Tracy McGrady Warns Celtics About Jayson Tatum's Achilles Recovery

Tracy McGrady, the NBA Hall of Famer, has voiced his concerns about the Boston Celtics' decision to trade Jaylen Brown, citing the potential risks to Jayson Tatum's Achilles recovery. McGrady believes that Tatum will have a lot on his plate next season, especially with the addition of an older Paul George.

The Boston Celtics traded Jaylen Brown, a 29-year-old All-Star and All-NBA player, to the Los Angeles Clippers in exchange for Paul George. This move has raised eyebrows, with many questioning the team's decision to give up a young and talented player.

McGrady, who has experience with injuries throughout his career, is worried that the Celtics are putting too much pressure on Tatum, who is still recovering from an Achilles injury. He believes that Tatum will have to carry a bigger load next season, which could lead to re-injury.

"I can't understand why you would put so much pressure on your franchise player when he's coming off an Achilles injury? And you trade him for an older Paul George who hasn't been healthy the last few years, and I don't think he can give you that sidekick energy for 60, 65 games and will allow JT to ease his way into it," said McGrady.

Tatum, who suffered an Achilles injury during the Celtics' second-round playoff series against the New York Knicks in 2025, made a remarkable recovery and played 22 games last season. However, McGrady still thinks that he will have a lot on his plate next campaign, especially since his new running mate is 36 years old and has been injury-prone the last couple of years.

"I know he played 20 games last year, but still man, coming off an Achilles injury, and you're like 'We giving you the show, and we just traded your running mate and we bringing in an older version of Paul George to kind of help you with it,' that's tough man. I just hope he don't overdo it because there's a lot put on his shoulders moving forward," Mac added.

Kevin Durant, who suffered a similar injury while at his peak, admitted that it took him two years to be himself again. "It was like 700 days until I really felt like me again on the court," said KD. "You got to realize like, it's like pulling a sock, a plug out the out the socket. When you take when you split your Achilles, oh, and you lose some of that power that you had before in your calf muscle, so you got to build your calf muscle all the way. Then you get atrophy; your calf gets smaller because you haven't moved it for three or four months, so you just got to build that calf back up."

McGrady isn't dismissing Tatum here; he's merely giving him a little warning because we've seen it before: players re-injuring themselves after pushing too hard during their comeback.