Celtics Notes: Porzingis, Tillman, Kornet, Tatum, Brown, Horford

After undergoing surgery in June to address a torn retinaculum and dislocated posterior tibialis tendon in his left leg, Celtics big man Kristaps Porzingis was ruled out for the start of the 2024/25 season, with an expectation that he’d be sidelined for at least five or six months. On Tuesday at the team’s media day, he offered an update on his recovery progress, telling reporters – including ESPN’s Tim Bontemps – that he’s “doing pretty good” and has increased his basketball activities ahead of training camp.

“Walking obviously with (no limp),” Porzingis said when asked about what he’s been able to do. “I’m running, I’m on the court, shooting normal. … I’m doing a lot of stuff honestly. I was already kind of with some live contact, doing some stuff and, yeah, it felt really good afterwards.”

Although Porzingis didn’t offer a specific target date or return timeline during his media day session, he recently told ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne that he’s aiming to make it back in December if his recovery continues to progress as planned. According to Shelburne, the Celtics are constantly evaluating his progress and will err on the side of caution when it comes to reinserting him into the lineup.

“I don’t know that we’re interested in putting a timeline on him because the injury is unique,” president of basketball operations Brad Stevens said on Tuesday, per Bontemps. “But as far as how he feels and the progress that he’s made, I’d say we’re very, very pleased with where he is, and maybe a little surprised.”

Here’s more on the Celtics:

• Porzingis isn’t the only Celtics big man to have undergone surgery this offseason. According to Stevens, Xavier Tillman had a knee scope in July and Luke Kornet underwent a procedure on his wrist right after the season, but both players are recovered and good to go for camp, tweets Jared Weiss of The Athletic.
• Star forward Jayson Tatum joked on Tuesday that no one was happier than Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla that Tatum wasn’t named Finals MVP and then was held out of two Olympic games, since both experiences could provide added motivation heading into 2024/25, Weiss writes for The Athletic. Still, Tatum said he didn’t need any extra motivation and that he enjoyed his Olympic experience as a whole despite the “unique circumstance” of being benched for two games.
• While Tatum downplayed his Olympic role (or lack thereof) as a source of motivation for the coming season, teammate Al Horford said he “personally was not happy about” Tatum’s sporadic minutes and Jaylen Brown‘s omission from the U.S. roster, according to Shelburne. “Those guys, they’re very special to me. And even though it was nothing against me, it motivated me and all of us for this season,” Horford said. “I know that they handled it well. They’re fine. But when you see those two guys, the amount of work that they’ve put in, the sacrifices they have made. To be on the top of their games and that happened to them, it was hard to watch (the Olympics) and not see them in the position that we would’ve hoped to see them in.” Brown, who expressed his displeasure in the summer after not being named to Team USA, added on Tuesday that he’s “extremely motivated” heading into the 2024/25 season “for obvious reasons.”
• As Weiss relays, Tatum told reporters on Tuesday that he has been making some mechanical tweaks to his jump shot this offseason after struggling with it at the Olympics and in the 2024 postseason. “There (are) some things I could’ve fixed (earlier), but just in the midst of the playoffs trying to manage your rest and things like that, it’s a little tougher,” Tatum said. “I was still playing well, just wasn’t shooting the ball as well as I would have liked. And obviously, we were winning, so it wasn’t the time or place to try to fix things in that moment.”