Jayson Tatum Returning Soon: What It Means for the Celtics and Fantasy Basketball

The Boston Celtics are getting back an MVP-level player, so let's discuss what that means.

We will discuss the real-world and fantasy basketball implications of the return of Jayson Tatum.

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Background and Some Stats

Tatum hasn't played yet in the 2025-26 season because of an Achilles injury he suffered last season.

He is expected to debut this Friday against the Mavericks. That would be less than 10 months from when he suffered the injury.

Tatum is 28 years old and has eight years of NBA experience under his belt. He owns career averages of 23.6 points, 7.3 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 1.1 steals and 0.7 blocks per game.

In 72 games last year, Tatum averaged 26.8 points, 8.7 rebounds, 6 assists, 1.1 steals and 0.5 blocks over 36.4 minutes a game. He shot 45.2% overall and 34.3% from 3-point land.

Tatum's Fantasy Outlook

Tatum is a high-level player when healthy, but to expect him to return to his averages from last season the rest of this season seems like a far-fetched idea.

It's likely the Celtics ease him back in, and maybe even sit him here and there, especially in back-to-back contests. Boston is hoping to come out of the Eastern Conference again, so in time, they'll ramp Tatum up.

I especially wouldn't expect Tatum to deliver monster fantasy numbers right off the bat. He still will be a good fantasy asset, and someone to roster/utilize in a bunch of fantasy leagues.

Tatum is nearly rostered in 100% of leagues already, but if he's available in your league, stop reading this article and go pick him up immediately.

You might not want to start him immediately in standard leagues, especially on a full night of NBA play, but in time, I'd imagine he re-emerges as a good/great fantasy asset.

I'd imagine that Tatum would start right away, but even if he doesn't, he should play enough for fantasy relevance. In time, Tatum should earn his starting spot back.

Outlook for the Celtics

Derrick White, Baylor Scheierman, Jaylen Brown, Sam Hauser and Neemias Queta are the starters right now. Tatum could replace Hauser, or the Celtics could rearrange things so that Scheierman comes off the bench instead.

Regardless of who starts, I'd imagine the starting five would still have big enough roles for fantasy relevance, even with Tatum rejoining the mix. I would expect several player's numbers to drop at least a bit because Tatum could do so much though, so go into things with that expectation at least.

Payton Pritchard and Nikola Vucevic are two other Celtics who come off the bench, but should retain big enough roles for fantasy relevance after Tatum is re-introduced to the rotation.

Hugo Gonzalez and Jordan Walsh are a couple forwards who could see their playing time decrease with Tatum back in the mix. Max Shulga, Ron Harper Jr., Luka Garza and Amari Williams are others who could see their roles shrivel up with Tatum back in the mix.

Brown, White and Pritchard are all owned in 100% of fantasy leagues. Brown and White should stick at that mark the rest of the season, but Pritchard does have a chance to be dropped in a few leagues - I'd still expect him to be rostered in most standard leagues the rest of the season.

Scheierman is only at 10% owned right now. His own mark could drop off with Tatum back - it all depends what kind of role Scheierman has.

Hauser is only rostered in 25% of leagues. He's in the same boat as Scheierman, meaning that you'll need to watch his gamelogs when Tatum is back to see if Hauser is still worth rostering/utilizing in some deeper leagues, and standard leagues occasionally.

Walsh is at just 3% rostered, as is Gonzalez. Both of those guys could be dropped completely after Tatum is back, and especially when he's fully back in the swing of things.

Vucevic is still owned in 100% of leagues despite mostly coming off the bench since he was traded for. I could see him being dropped in a few standard leagues when Tatum is back in the mix, but that will all depend on how Vuc fares.

Queta is at 86% rostered. He too could drop a bit with Tatum back. We'll see if Vucevic eventually overtakes him too.

So really, it's a wait-and-see thing with most of the other Celtics. Keep an eye on the waiver wire list daily, plus the most-dropped list, which can be found on any fantasy basketball page on the site.

This is a huge thing for the Celtics, who go from contenders in the East to a legit NBA Finals contender now. It all depends on how Tatum looks in his return to the court.