Celtics not pressuring Jayson Tatum to return

Celtics executive and former head coach Brad Stevens is well aware that Boston, which is sitting near the top of the Eastern Conference standings, will be better when it gets star player Jayson Tatum back from the Achilles injury he suffered in the playoffs last season.

“Obviously, any team with Jayson Tatum’s going to be better,” Stevens said Friday. “If he needs it, I’ll tell him every day. Because every team — all 30 of us — would be way, way better with him on the team.”

For his part, Tatum acknowledged harboring concerns about his return messing up Boston’s chemistry should he return in time to bolster the lineup for the playoffs.

“That’s something I contemplate every day,” he said in an appearance on “The Pivot” podcast. “They would have played 50-some odd games without me. So they have an identity this year, or things they’ve felt that have clicked for them, and it’s been successful.

“So there’s a thought in my head that is, like: ‘How does that work? How does that look with me integrating myself off an injury.’ And it is a thought, like, ‘Damn, do I come back, or should I wait?'”

Stevens laughed off the idea, but acknowledged that Tatum still has some hurdles to clear before he can make a return.

“He’s hit a lot of the thresholds, he’s doing more and more, and will continue to do more and more,” the former Celtics coach and current president of basketball operations said.

“There’s no pressure from us. But there’s also not going to be any of us saying, ‘Well, why don’t you just take another week?’ It’s going to be: When he’s ready, he’s ready.”

The Celtics will wait until their franchise cornerstone is fully read to reintegrate himself.

“It’s best for Jayson to come when he’s 110% healthy, he’s fully cleared by everybody that matters in that decision, and he’s got great peace of mind and ready to do it,” Stevens said. “That’s it. That’s the objective, and that’s what we’re going to stick with.”