Nearly three months after suffering an season-ending Achilles injury during Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Semifinal, Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum is beginning his road to recovery and no longer wearing a boot on his surgically repaired right ankle.

Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens is not putting a timetable on Tatum’s return, but ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne recently reported that Boston’s franchise player is progressing well.

“There is a good update on Jayson Tatum – he’s walking again,” Shelburne mentioned over the weekend on NBA Today. “He’s out of the boot and he’s walking again. He said he’s been doing rehab six days a week and he’s ahead of schedule coming back from that Achilles.”

According to various social media posts from Tatum’s workout routine, he has been rehabilitating the injury at UT-Chattanooga. Tatum isn’t the only starter who had surgery early this offseason after Jaylen Brown went through an arthroscopic procedure on his right knee. He has been back at Boston’s practice facility working out since June and will continue in his starring role next season, especially without Tatum in the lineup.

“I think Jaylen Brown relishes moments like this,” Shelburne added. “He tried to play through that injury all throughout the playoffs, and I think he’ll relish being the ‘1A’ here.”

When Tatum went down against the New York Knicks, he recorded 42 points, eight rebounds, four assists, four steals, and two blocks on 16 of 28 shooting, maintaining his strong performance in the playoffs.

Tatum averaged 26.8 points, 8.7 rebounds, and six assists per game last season while making his sixth consecutive All-Star appearance. The former first-round pick out of Duke is a four-time All-NBA First Team selection and signed a record-setting $314 million extension last summer.

When asked if Tatum’s injury forced the front office to consider various trades to cut costs ahead of the 2025-26 season, Stevens dismissed the idea.

“The reality is we knew going into this year, regardless of how it ended, we would have some really hard decisions to make because of the penalties,” said Stevens.

Boston has already traded Kristaps Porziņģis and Jrue Holiday and is not expected to re-sign free agent center Al Horford.