Jayson Tatum's injury designation moved from day-to-day to cleared on September 24, the most notable development in an otherwise quiet week of camp additions. Boston now has four weeks before the preseason opener at Cleveland to find out what that clearance is worth.
Tatum's clearance closes the file on a lost season.
Tatum's designation had read day-to-day for the length of an underwhelming 2025-26 campaign: 16 games played, then a shutdown that stretched into the summer. In those 16 outings he still averaged 21.8 points, 10.0 rebounds and 5.3 assists in 32.6 minutes, a healthy year compressed into a fifth of one. The label changed to cleared on September 24, four weeks before Boston plays a preseason minute.
The preseason slate is set, and it starts on the road.
Camp opens with the schedule now public: October 8 at Cleveland, then home dates against Philadelphia on the 10th and Charlotte on the 14th, before a return trip to Philadelphia on the 16th. The regular season begins October 20 at Detroit, on NBC and Peacock. Everything between now and then is conditioning, not information.
Camp's roster additions are complete for now.
Boston rounded out its camp group on September 24, adding guard Hayden Gray and forward Gabe McGlothan. Neither move changes the outlook: payroll sits at $203.9M, above the $200.4M tax threshold, carried by Tatum's $58.5M and Paul George's $54.1M salaries.
Whether the clearance holds through a full slate is the question camp cannot answer.
George played 37 games last season at 36 years old, and Tatum's own health log is now the newest variable layered onto that same problem. A cleared designation is a status, not a workload plan.
Is Jayson Tatum cleared to play for the Celtics?
Yes. His designation moved from day-to-day to cleared on September 24, ahead of camp.
When do the Celtics start their 2026-27 season?
The preseason opens October 8 at Cleveland; the regular season begins October 20 at Detroit.
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