With a healthy Jayson Tatum, the Boston Celtics are contenders

Jayson Tatum has been back in the Boston Celtics rotation for less than two months. However, he's already playing at a near-All-NBA level. In fact, the only thing that's been holding him back has been his shooting efficiency, which is clearly still a work in progress.

Now that Tatum is back in the rotation, and he's playing at a high level, the Celtics are unquestionably one of the better teams in the Eastern Conference. As such, the same team that was expected to struggle throughout the 2025-26 season will now head into the playoffs with genuine expectations on their shoulders. During a recent episode of the "Hoops Tonight" podcast, Jason Timpf broke down why the current version of Tatum, shooting struggles and all, is more than enough to elevate the Celtics in the championship conversation.

He pointed toward Tatum's rebounding, playmaking and defense, among other things, as key additions to Joe Mazzulla's rotation. You can watch the full podcast episode by clicking on the embedded video above. Watch or listen to the "Celtics Chronicle" podcast on: YouTube: https://bit.

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