Will Jayson Tatum return for the Celtics this season?

Summary

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The Athletic NBA Daily – December 12, 2025

Episode Theme:
Will Jayson Tatum return for the Celtics this season?

Hosts: Dave DuFour, Esfandiar Baraheni
Guest: Jay King (The Athletic, Celtics beat reporter)

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Episode Overview

This episode dives into the Celtics' surprisingly strong season, key on-court trends around the league, and, most importantly, whether Jayson Tatum might return from injury before season’s end. The hosts and guest reflect on the implications for Boston, analyze player developments, and dissect broader NBA topics like end-of-game pacing and foul rules.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Rockets-Clippers Game: End-of-Game Grind

• Discussion about slow end-of-game pace and fouling strategies.
  • The Rockets defeated the Clippers in a tight, but laboriously slow finish due to repeated fouls, reviews, and challenges.
  • Dave DuFour: “The final 17 seconds took 17 minutes in real life to finish.” [04:00]
  • Fouling up three is criticized as “taking away from the entertainment factor of the NBA and really the spirit of the game.” [06:12]
  • Both hosts agree the NBA needs a rule change to preserve excitement, much as it did with the take foul.

2. Steph Curry’s Impact and Warriors’ Outlook

• Steph Curry's return after injury.
  • The Warriors went 3-2 without him but “they’re 10 points per 100 possessions better on offense with Steph Curry on the floor this season.” [08:09]
• Roster flexibility and potential moves:
  • Jonathan Kuminga is a likely trade candidate.
  • Esfandiar: “You gotta give this Warriors team and Steph Curry a little bit more of a chance than it currently has in the Western Conference.” [09:27]

3. Celtics Season Overview and Recent Loss

• Jay King joins to analyze Boston’s season.
  • The Celtics have been “way more competitive…than anybody expected, mostly because we really thought they were going to try to get under the tax and maybe tank this season, but they’re too good to tank.” [14:01]
  • Most recent loss: Celtics stumbled when “they missed 16 straight threes…you know that’s not great, not good.” [14:49]
  • Bobby Portis and Kyle Kuzma cited for exploiting Celtics defensive lapses.
  • Despite the cold shooting, “what really doomed them was…their defense.” [15:10]

4. Offensive Evolution in Boston

• On play style changes and less three-point dependency:
  • Jay King explains a strategic shift:
    • “Even without [Tatum and former all-stars], they still rank first in taking care of the ball…that helps them win the possession game.”
    • “Now they crash the glass at a very high rate…ranked seventh in offensive rebounding.” [15:54]
  • Celtics “rarely post up any more,” relying on mid-range and three-point shooting, but are less likely to crater when the threes stop falling due to improved ball care and rebounding.

5. Jalen Brown’s Breakout and Increased Responsibility

• On Brown as lead guard:
  • Jay: “When Jason Tatum was not on the court last season…Jalen [Brown] averaged almost 10 assists per 100 possessions…” [18:46]
  • Jay lauds Brown’s midrange prowess: “He’s like Dirk Nowitzki and Kevin Durant from mid range. It really is an insane diet of shots…super impressive.” [19:52]

6. Jordan Walsh’s Emergence

• Jay praises second-year wing’s development:
  • “He went from looking like a guy who might never get a chance…to ‘oh wow, Austin Reeves just said he’s going to be one of the best defensive players in the league’…” [22:39]
  • Walsh is rebounding well and taking smart shots, supplementing his expected defensive impact.

7. Jayson Tatum’s Recovery & Return Timeline

• Footage and optimism:
  • “Tomorrow is seven months from his surgery…his change of direction looked pretty good. He was shooting step backs…and one-legged fadeaway jumpers.” [23:41]
  • Jay cautiously optimistic: “I suspect…he has a real chance to [return this season].” [24:18]
• On historical precedent:
  • They cite Dominique Wilkins, who came back from a similar injury in nine months, offering hope given improved medical technology.
• Jay’s caveat on Tatum’s likely role if he returns:
  • “It’s really hard for me to envision him being ready to play at [an all-NBA] level so quickly after an Achilles. In this era…it is so hard to play and keep up if you’re not at top, top speed.” [25:24]
  • Boston might not contend for the East even with Tatum’s partial return, but his diligence and habits give reason for optimism.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the grind of endgame NBA:
  • Esfandiar: “My wife always jokes with me…how much is left in the game? …I’ll see you in 25 minutes. It’s NBA time.” [05:01]
• On Celtics’ new offensive style:
  • Jay: “They don’t post up at all anymore, like never ever…Now it’s Jalen Brown and Peyton Pritchard from the mid range; it’s everybody else from three…” [16:15]
• On Jalen Brown’s shot making:
  • Jay: “It’s just been super impressive. The shot making that he’s had this season has been ridiculous and it’s been super consistent and I don’t know if it’s sustainable…but it’s really been a display of shooting so far this season for Jalen Brown.” [19:54]
  • (On Brown’s shot swish:) “Swap?”—becomes a running joke. [20:31]
• On Tatum’s rehab and work ethic:
  • Jay: “He puts a ton of care into his body…he took his trainer with him when he would go to, like, Kemba Walker’s wedding…worked out the day of the wedding.” [27:40]
• On potential Celtics trades:
  • Jay: “Perfect world, they would try to do both [shed salary and add depth]…use someone like Anthony Simon’s contract to go get an area of need, say big man.” [29:24]
  • Zubac and Gafford mentioned as possible trade targets.

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• [03:24] – Opening remarks and rundown
• [04:00] – Rockets-Clippers game and end-of-game officiating
• [07:32] – Steph Curry’s return and Warriors’ concerns
• [14:01] – Celtics season recap intro; Jay King segments begin
• [15:54] – Celtics’ offensive adjustments and ball control
• [18:46] – Jalen Brown as lead guard without Tatum
• [21:02] – Jordan Walsh’s emergence
• [23:41] – Tatum’s rehab footage and return possibility
• [25:24] – The reality of Tatum’s potential playoff readiness
• [29:24] – Celtics trade deadline outlook
• [31:59] – Closing thoughts and future trajectory

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Takeaways & Looking Forward

• The Celtics have subverted preseason expectations with a competitive, adaptive core, owing to Jalen Brown’s leap and improved team rebounding.
• Jayson Tatum’s rehab is a positive sign, but his return (if it occurs) may not restore his MVP-caliber form immediately.
• Boston is expected to be active in the trade market, balancing cap management and the need for a playoff-ready big man.
• The episode’s conversational tone highlights both the technical and human sides of the game, with the hosts’ mix of analysis and banter.

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Transcript

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Visit t mobile.com hey Andrew Schlecht here. This Tuesday at 8:30 Eastern it's the Emirates NBA cup championship game on prime. This year's quest for the cup has delivered incredible moments and jaw dropping highlights and they've been building toward this. The final two teams. I am so pumped for the NBA cup here at the NBA Daily. We will be there live in person, ready to take in the cup, ready to respect the Cup. And what's been really fun is that the players have been very motivated this year to win this thing and they have. Multiple teams have expressed this and you can see it through the competition and I cannot wait to see it live in Las Vegas. The Emirates NBA Cup Championship game live from Las Vegas, Tuesday night at 8:30 Eastern on Prime. And if you're not a Prime member, that's not a problem. Sign up for a 30 day free trial to get started today. The Emirates NBA Cup Championship game this Tuesday at 8:30 Eastern only on Prime. Restrictions apply. See Amazon.com Amazon prime for details.

[D]

Foreign.

[A]

Good morning and welcome to the NBA Daily for December 12, 2025. I'm Dave DeFore here with Esperahenny. Coming up, the Rockets beat the Clippers but man, it took a long time to finish that game. And Steph Curry is coming back. We're going to talk about his impact on the warriors. And Jake King is here to talk about the Celtics and how they've been winning. Except for night. Good morning everybody.

[F]

Good morning.

[A]

Guess I love when we book a guest because a team's been hot or doing something interesting and it's just like.

[F]

The NBA Daily curse hasn't been going crazy this year. But, but we, we unfortunately got one with J.T.

[A]

Well, we got the double whammy on the cup night the other night because we picked both the losers and you know, hey, we, we, we're just rolling the dice out here. Speaking of all right. As look, we watch a ton of basketball every single night and we've talked about watchability this season and I don't want to be a guy who's like complaining about refereeing because like I, I, it's hard to ref reviews are going to happen. But what happened at the end of the Rockets Clippers game last night, it is just egregious. It was, you know, we, these games are already taking forever. That game last night, the final 17 seconds took 17 minutes in real life to finish. They were at 27 seconds left with about two and a half minutes left in Celtics bucks and the press conferences were done by the time that game was over. That was crazy.

[F]

No, I mean look, we have one of these every so often that just reminds us about the grueling nature of the end of basketball games. My wife always jokes with me you know, she'll be like, oh, how much is left in the game? And I'll be like, oh, it's just like a couple minutes. And she'll be like, okay, I'll see you in 25 minutes. It's NBA time. It's NBA time. Right? And like, between reviews and challenges and referees looking over things, the end of games have just become so grueling. And to add to the fact I know this is something we both hate, fouling up three has made it even.

[A]

More absurd because now going through all this for nothing.

[F]

Exactly.

[A]

Right.

[F]

There's no, it's a three point game and there's no incentive for me because I know it's going to come down to free throws. It's going to come down to this battle of like, hey, we have two seconds left on the clock. How many timeouts do we have? Instead of it being, hey, we have a three, it's three points and we have an opportunity to score here. I think that has to be somehow legislated out of the game. They have to find, maybe it's a technical foul, maybe it's an away, the away from the ball foul, something in order to allow teams to have an opportunity if they're down three.

[A]

Well, there's so many other rules that they're willing to just kind of look beyond or create new versions of to make it more entertaining. And this to me is like the take foul. The take foul was taking away from the entertainment factor of the NBA and really the spirit of the game. That's the other thing is like, you're up three. You should still have to play defense because there's a three point shot and to win. Listen, I understand his strategy and it's smart. Yes. Trust me, I know. I'm a coach and we intentionally foul bad free throw shooters all the time. It doesn't mean that that's what I want to watch on television.

[F]

Yeah, there's nothing wrong with coaches doing it. Like, there's absolutely nothing wrong with coaches doing it. It's part of the rules. It's part of what's allowed. You have to have gained advantage. But I think that's ridiculous. And to your point about the Rockets Cliffers game, it was a fun game. It was back and forth. James Harden and Kawhi were making shots. Zubots had a great game.

[A]

Put back for the, for the lead.

[F]

Absolutely. Stephen Adams had an incredible Duncan transition. Like, there were a lot of great moments for that to be ruined by challenges and reviews. It's just, it's deflating you know?

[A]

Yeah, it's literally like imagine watching a great movie in the last 20 minutes. Were just people doing paperwork or something.

[F]

Yeah, exactly.

[A]

You know, that's. That's not really what we want. Okay, enough complaining.

[D]

It.

[A]

It really. It was a great game until the last 20 minutes of the game. That was 17 seconds. Okay. Hey, Steph Curry is coming back, guys. The warriors could use him. Even though they went three and two without him. S. They. They did beat the Cavs in there. Although we kind of feel like the Cavs are a little soft. So maybe that says more about the Cavs than it does the Warriors. But their offense could use him. Obviously. He's one of the greatest ever. How much better is this team when Steph is on the court versus off? I mean, you know, Pat Spencer doing his best Steph Curry impression is still Pat Spencer playing basketball.

[F]

Hey, can I tell you guys something? The warriors are about to have a week off. You know, they last played on Sunday. They're going to play on Friday. They've had five days off. And for an old team, that helps a lot. So if we talk about NBA cup scheduling, by the way, it helps tremendously that there's a five day break for one of the oldest teams in basketball right now. And to your point about Steph Curry, yeah, it's great to have him back because the warriors offense craters without him. They clearly, they've played. They've been playing fine without him and beating the competition that they're supposed to. You mentioned the Cavs game, which was atrocious from the Cavs perspective, but they're 10 points per 100 possessions better on offense with Steph Curry on the floor this season, and that includes games where he hasn't played. He's huge for what they do. We don't have to debate that in any sort of way. Their ceiling is so much higher when he is there and on the floor and knocking down shots and doing the Steph Curry things we've seen him do for a decade plus now the question moving forward is like, all right, are they going to get anything out of these other guys on a night to night basis to give Steph a chance to actually be at the height of his powers come playoff time? I mean, everybody's going to talk about Kaminga, whether they'll trade him, which seems.

[A]

Like pretty much this point.

[F]

Yeah, exactly. Seems like a foregone conclusion at this point. What kind of upgrade are you looking for Kobe White? Is it a big man? Is it somewhere else? I just, I feel like you got to give this warriors team and Steph Curry a little bit more of a chance than it currently has in the Western Conference.

[A]

Yeah, guys, before we go to the break, don't forget you can join our discord. It's in the show notes if you're listening on the pod or it's in the description, come hang out. You're watching us on YouTube. Come hang out. You know we're trying to spend a little bit more time there. And if you're going to be in Vegas for the NBA cup, say hi, reach out, say what's up guys? Stick around. After the break, we got Jay King to talk about the Celtics and I asked him if Jason Tatum's coming back foreign.

[E]

Hey, Andrew Schlecht here. This Tuesday at 8:30 Eastern it's the Emirates NBA Cup Championship Game on Prime. This year's quest for the cup has delivered incredible moments and jaw dropping highlights and they've been building toward this. The final two teams. I am so pumped for the NBA cup here at the NBA Daily. We will be there live in person ready to take in the cup, ready to respect the cup. And what's been really fun is that the players have been very motivated this year to win this thing and they have multiple teams have expressed this and you can see it through the competition and I cannot wait to see it live in Las Vegas. The Emirates NBA Cup Championship Game live from Las Vegas, Tuesday night at 8:30 Eastern on Prime. And if you're not a Prime member, that's not a problem. Sign up for a 30 day free trial to get started today. The Emirates NBA Cup Championship Game this Tuesday at 8:30 Eastern only on Prime. Restrictions apply. See Amazon.com amazonprime for details.

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[A]

The Boston Celtics have kind of surprised us the last few weeks. They've been way more competitive this season than I think anybody expected, mostly because we really thought they were going to try to get under the tax and maybe tank this season, but they're too good to tank. And Jason Tatum might come back. And Jay King covers the Celtics for us.

[F]

The third J in Boston.

[A]

That's right.

[D]

The first important.

[A]

Jay. Jay, you know, when we were, when we were getting you on the show, I. I assumed, going to play the Bucks without Giannis, that the Celtics, who had kind of figured out this identity this season and really was on a nice little roll, we're going to go in and handle business. But they got. They ran into Kyle Kuzma and Bobby Portis. Come on, man.

[D]

They got Bobby Portis, man.

[B]

It was.

[D]

It was an incredible display by him. He can just, just touch God every once in a while, and that's what he did. Celtics missed 16 straight threes. When the announcers are bringing up the Houston rockets streak of 27 straight misses during the game, you know, that's not great, not good. And yeah, when that happens, you're going to have some tough nights. But it wasn't just Porter. Like Kevin Porter Jr. Was hitting some tough shots. Kyle Kuzma was, was getting whatever he wanted. That was a problem. So as many shots as the Celtics missed, I think what really doomed them was, was their defense. They weren't able to get Portis and Kuzma and those guys out of rhythm.

[F]

Yeah, this, this Celtics team has been so fun to watch offensively this year, especially over the last like two or three weeks where they've just been dominant. Do you think, you know, I guess for the last couple of seasons we've talked about how hot shooting can help the Celtics, and then when they're cold, it's like a completely different team. Is that still the case with this version of the Celtics?

[D]

So they've, they've made some changes to their playing style that have helped them sort of avoid some of the lulls they used to have. Like number one, even without Jason Tatum, even without several other former all Stars that they lost over the off season, they, they still rank first in taking care of the ball. So that's a huge deal for them. They, they help, that helps them win the possession game. But the second big shift they've, they've gone through is they now crash the glass at a very high rate. They ranked seventh in offensive rebounding early in the season, very early in the season they were shooting extremely poorly and, and their offense was still in the top 10. And it was largely because they were able to, to win the possession game. And they've, they've just kind of done that a little differently. They used to be like extremely efficient and as, as shooters and they used to be able to get to the rim, draw more free throws. Now it's like Jalen Brown and Peyton Pritchard from the mid range. It's everybody else from three, it's Jordan Walsh and the Miskeda and Josh Minot getting to the rim sometimes playing off other guys. And so, you know, I, I, I think their, their offense isn't totally reliant on the three point shot, even though obviously it's, it's a big deal to them. And they have lost some layers of their offense. Like they used to post up as much as just about anybody. They don't post up at all anymore, like never ever. And so they're, they're very reliant on jump shots. But because they do take care of the ball and because they do crash the glass the way they do they're able to, to produce enough possessions that even when they go cold, they're able to score.

[A]

Yeah, I mean, but it's smart. They don't have any guys who are.

[D]

Against the Milwaukee Bucks. Yeah, right. Then they didn't score at all.

[A]

It's smart for them to go away from post ups. They don't have guys who are good at it. Right. Like it's, this is, this is. Actually, I think Missoula is doing a really good job of coaching this team because he, of the changes that he's made. It's similar. Like, looks like Miami. Right. Like Miami. They, they don't have any good pick and roll ball handlers. Okay, cool. We're not going to run any pick and roll and just put your guys in a, in a position to succeed. On the broadcast. I was listening. I love when you get to cherry pick stats. Jalen Brown's one of three players in the league averaging 29 points, six rebounds, four assists. Right. It's him, Luka and Jokic. I mean these are like obviously three guys in the same tier. What do you think about Jalen Brown, like the season he's having? Did you, did you feel like he could be this kind of lead guard, you know, without a secondary guy like Tatum out there?

[D]

Yeah. So the one thing I harped on over the off season after Tatum got hurt on my podcast, still potable is Dave told me to do that. Keep, keep referencing still potable. So I had to try to, I had to try to make him laugh.

[A]

You, you left a bit.

[F]

Not be there anymore by letting, yeah.

[D]

Well, anyway, on my podcast still potable, I, I, I kept saying that when Jason Tatum was not on the court last season. So all the minutes with Jason Tatum on the bench, Jalen averaged almost 10 assists per 100 possessions. And so he was able to reach another level of playmaking. He was able to reach another level of productivity when Tatum sat and non Tatum minutes used to be a huge issue, partly because of how much talent they had around him, but partly also because Jalen has just developed immensely as a playmaker and an all around player throughout the years. The non Tatum minutes went really well and so I, I knew he would be capable of, of having a, a very good season. I knew that when everybody was healthy, as they have been for most of the season, they would be competitive. The, the part that's been super impressive to me hasn't just been the, the playmaking and the all around play. It's, he's like Dirk Nowitzki and Kevin Durant from mid range.

[A]

It's insane what happened, man.

[D]

And it really is an insane diet of shots. It's like it. These are not open shots that he's taking. It's, you know, crossover right, crossover left, step back, con contested Schwep. And, and it's, it's just been super impressive. The shot making that, that he's had this season has been ridiculous and it's been super consistent and I don't know if it's sustainable, but, but it's, it's really been a display of shooting so far this season for Jalen Brown.

[F]

Can you just do that sound effect again?

[D]

Swap?

[A]

Yep. We're gonna make that a drop on the show for sure.

[F]

Yes, absolutely. Another guy who's, who's had some pretty great development for you guys this season has been Jordan Walsh, who I think has developed a lot on the offensive end. I mean, Austin Reeves called him one of the best defenders in the league and how he has the potential to do that. He, he obviously had the defensive potential always in his career. It was about figuring out the offensive side of the ball. What have you seen from Jordan Walsh, who's been a pretty good surprise for you guys?

[D]

It's just, I mean, at the start of the season, it looked like every other young wing they had had jumped him. Josh Minot was getting chances, Baylor Shireman was getting chances, Ugo Gonzalez was getting chances, and Jordan Walsh was sitting on the bench doing nothing. And then he got his chance and he was just ready for it. And like you said, he has all the defensive tools you'd want. He's super long wingspan, he's 6, 7, 6, 8. Whatever he is, it's just he's grown up and he's matured and he's realized, like, you need to be super in tune with the details if you're going to guard the best players in the NBA on a nightly basis. And he's done that. Like the discipline that he's shown defensively has been super high. He's getting deflections, he's getting steals, he's racking up blocks. And offensively, it's just like he's trusting his game. And his shot is falling. I don't know if it will continue to fall the way it has from outside, but everything else, he's crashing the glass. He's getting put backs, he's finishing in transition. He's been able to get a few garbage buckets per game just by working and being in the right spots. And so if he can do that stuff with the defense that he's shown. And he's also rebounding at a high level on both ends, which is super important to this team because they can get crushed on the defensive glass. It's just been, I mean he's totally changed the trajectory of his career over the last month and obviously threes too. It's not, it's not just the last month where, where he's done that. It's been the work over the last few years.

[F]

Slow build of that.

[D]

Yeah, but he went from looking like a guy who might never get a chance because the other young guys had passed him to oh wow, like Austin Reeves just said, he's going to be one of the best defensive players in the league for a long time. And I, I don't know if Austin.

[A]

Reeves is the greatest judge of defense, but you know, I, I, I, I appreciate great defender.

[D]

Judge of defense might be different.

[A]

Well, yeah, I don't know.

[D]

I could have dunk, but I could judge a dunk there.

[A]

There you go, Jay. Okay, speaking of judging, look, I, I've seen your box scores. Okay. Not the one where you guys played against the, the Celtics coaches. I didn't see that one, but I've seen the box course, you know, you know, ball, you play. Could you do me a favor and just give me like a breakdown of the Jason Tatum pickup footage? The one on one footage that we all watched in slow motion. Not the defense because obviously it's non contact, you know, like they're just trying to let this guy break a sweat. But what'd you think about how Jason Tatum looked?

[D]

It's, it's just pretty impressive to me. You know, I think tomorrow is seven months from, from his surgery crazy. And he's already playing one on one. It's, it's not just that he's out there playing. Like his change of direction looked pretty good. He was shooting step backs to the side of the injured Achilles. He was like, like shooting one legged fadeaway jumpers and all that stuff is, is, is a good sign for the Celtics. I don't know if he'll return this season. I suspect based on how well he's progressed, all the positive feedback that that has been given so far that he has a real chance to do so. And, and you know, obviously they're, they're in the mix in the Eastern.

[A]

Dominic Wilkins came back in nine months. And listen, I like, I know like I, I think I heard that somewhere. I read it.

[F]

The technology is also advanced since the 90s.

[A]

I mean, maybe yes, I, I know and the surgery has changed, but this is not necessarily unprecedented for him to come back in this short amount of time to the NBA. And Dominique Wilkins was pretty good when he came back, actually that, that first season. If he comes back, okay, let's just. I want to live in that world for a minute. How much, like, where do you put them in the east compared to now? Like right now they're kind of in the middle, right? Like fourth, fifth in the middle of the playoff race, I'll say, because I think that they're a better team than, than most people realize. But if Jason Tatum comes back and he's like 75, 80%, like, we're not expecting all NBA Jason Tatum right away. I mean, what, what happens to this team? Like, what does it look like?

[D]

So it's really hard for me to discuss this because on one hand is like the vision of Jason Tatum. Right, right. And, and what he's been, which is first team all NBA the last four years, five years, whatever it is, and do everything. Guy who can guard centers, who can play point guard, who can score from all over the court, who's become a top level playmaker for a guy his size. And if you put that Jason Tatum on this Celtics team, they're a force in the Eastern Conference. But why it's hard for me to talk about it is like, it's really hard for me to envision him being ready to play at that level so quickly after an Achilles. And so then you start thinking about like, okay, so what is he going to be able to do? And, and to me, in this era of basketball, it is so hard to, to play and to keep up if you're not at top, top speed. Like, the pace is so fast, everybody's picking up full court. There's so much you have to do on any given possession. And so for that reason, like, I don't think they'll have a chance to win the east even if he does come back. That said, like, who knows? It's, it's been, you know, seven months of good news ever since the, the injury happened. And he's super diligent. And as far as taking care of his body, even long before this, this injury happened, he's one of the guys who puts a ton of care into his body, who does every single thing right, who thinks about every single detail, and, and I'm sure that he's taken that sort of care throughout the rehab process. So if anybody has a chance to, to come back and be ready to make an impact somewhat soon after Returning it's a guy like him with his physical characteristics who's 610 and can really shoot and doesn't necessarily need that high end athleticism and who also keeps himself in great, great shape. And he's doing those 5:30am workouts every single way. Yeah, like he took his trainer with him when he would go to, like he went to Kemba Walker's wedding for one example, and he took his trainer with him and they worked out the day of the wedding.

[A]

Is he working out in the airport? Is he going to be one of these guys doing pull ups in the airport in a suit?

[D]

Yeah, I'm sure he's doing.

[F]

That's a good call.

[D]

Yeah, I, I actually think that's a great idea to have workouts in an airport.

[A]

I, I love to sit in a.

[D]

Every time I have a space, every time I have a layover, I'm like, you know what? Everybody at the airport just goes and sits at the bar and drinks.

[A]

Well, take a walk.

[D]

But this is a culture of sitting and drinking. We need to break the culture.

[A]

I agree with you.

[D]

Put some gyms in there. Give me a fitness center. Let me work out during my layover.

[A]

If you're going to do showers, yeah, sure.

[D]

Gotta have showers.

[F]

You gotta have showers.

[A]

No one, listen, no one said anything about a plan for showers. They only said they only showed the pull up. Well, no one did any pull ups there, but they showed the pull up bar. No showers were mentioned.

[F]

You do the pull up bar, you do the whole like outdoor gym thing and then you add the showers.

[A]

That's exactly what you do. It's gonna be a lot of workout.

[F]

I'm down, man. Look, Jay, I gotta ask you because obviously with or without Tatum and by the way, I think like start of March, if he comes back is very different than him coming back like end of March. You know, that's a month of him warming up and getting into full speed until playoffs. But this team obviously still has a chance to do some damage in the Eastern Conference and they probably are going to be active at the trade deadline because they want to get under the tax. They have. Anthony Simons is expiring salary. What do you think they do in the trade market? Because December 15th coming up, do you think they end up buying or do they sell and try to figure things out the other way?

[D]

So perfect world, they would try to do both. Okay, right. And, and use somebody like let's say Anthony Simon's contract to go out and get an area of need, let's say big man, because no matter how well Keita has played and no matter how well this small ball lineups have looked behind him, like you're going to need another center at some point who's capable of playing in a playoff series and playing well in a playoff series.

[A]

Anybody come to mind?

[D]

Zubots is. Is one of them. I think the lively situation might change Dallas's, Dallas's outlook. But when you look at the Maverick, like they have just a bunch of big men, a bunch of centers who.

[F]

Yeah, Gafford would be interesting for you guys too, right?

[D]

Yeah. So a perfect world, they go after a guy like that and then you're also able to shed $12 million in salary to get under the luxury tax. And Zubots I think makes like 19 million. 18 or 19, and Simon's makes 27. So maybe you could get there if, if you, if you do the trade, you know, a certain way.

[F]

Yeah, you got to add picks to that, though, to go out.

[D]

Yes, absolutely. You would have to add plenty of picks. But the seller, they do have young talent now that they can also offer, like some of these young wings, whether it's Walsh, Minot, Ugo, Gonzalez. Those guys look like they're real players and, and to be that age and real players is normally makes you pretty valuable. But yeah, yeah, I think that would.

[F]

Be a perfect world, finding a center.

[D]

But beyond that is like, do they try to get under the luxury tax? Do they try to start resetting the repeater tax? That would mean being under the luxury tax for two straight years. I think before they were this good, it was probably an easier. Like, yeah, right. It'd be great to get. Get out of the luxury tax and reset the repeater tax. And now it's like, you know what? Can't really sacrifice two years because this team, if it's not good enough to win this year, should be good enough to win next year once Tatum is. Is back closer to full strength.

[A]

So, yeah, I had no fear.

[D]

You know, that's another thing, like, so.

[A]

Weak and you don't know where Giannis is going to be next season. Yep. I, again, every single team in the east should be just trying. Let's take a swing on Giannis or whoever. All right, guys, go and read Jay over at the Athletic. Thank you, Jay, for hanging out. Appreciate you. For J. King and Esperahenny, I'm Dave Dufour and this has been the NBA Daily. Thanks for waking up with us.

[D]

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Ask your dermatologist about Cosentyx.

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