Fans of the Boston Celtics could use some good news amid an offseason of retooling, and they got some on the Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown injury fronts on Tuesday. While Brad Stevens had to talk about a lot of less uplifting things on Tuesday, he at least had a positive update on Boston's two injured stars.

Tatum has a long road back from a ruptured Achilles, and Brown is recovering from surgery to repair a partially torn meniscus in his right knee. But both have been working out nearly every day at the Auerbach Center in Brighton, and even when they haven't been inside the team's facilities, Tatum and Brown have been putting in work wherever they may be. 

"Jayson is working every day. He has literally been here every day, outside of a few days break. When he takes that break, [trainer] Nick [Sang] still goes with him so he's working every day," said Stevens. 

"It's unique being here in late June and early July and both Jayson and Jaylen are here," noted Stevens. "Jaylen was in this morning and did a shooting workout. Jayson was in and moving pretty fast on that boot. All indications are both are progressing at an incredible rate, which is great."

The expectation has been Brown will be ready to go for training camp, and that hasn't changed. While the news is promising on Tatum, don't expect a timeline for his return anytime soon.

"We're not even talking about timeline for return. Not even going there," said Stevens.

On Monday, the Indiana Pacers announced that Tyrese Haliburton will miss the entire 2025-26 NBA season as he rehabs from his own Achilles tear, which he suffered in Game 7 of the NBA Finals. Stevens said he and Celtics VP of basketball ops. Mike Zarren reached out to the Indiana brass that night to offer up some support.

"Mike and I were letting them know let us know if there's anything we can do, because we've been through it," said Stevens. 

The expectation is Tatum will miss the entire upcoming season. While Stevens left the door slightly open for an earlier return by not ruling it out completely on Tuesday, the Celtics are not going to pressure him to return sooner than he's 100 percent ready.

Jaylen Brown is Boston's top dog now

With Tatum sidelined, the Celtics will become Jaylen Brown's team in 2025-26. Stevens said he'll leave it up to head coach Joe Mazzulla to discuss roles and a pecking order with the team, but he's confident Brown can handle all the heavy lifting while Tatum is out.

"We all bring our strengths to the table and then function together. No question Jaylen will draw the most attention and I think he'll thrive in that," he said. "You saw that several times, and certainly in the few games we had to play without JT, and I think he did a good job."

While not having Tatum is a gigantic blow to Boston, Stevens is eager to see players like Brown, Derrick White, Payton Prichard, and even newcomers Anfernee Simons and Georges Niang, elevate their own game in new ways for the Celtics.

"I'm excited to see all these guys take a step up. I'm excited to see the chip on their shoulder," said Stevens. "I think we've always had it. We've always had a competitive group with a competitive mindset. But we had some higher expectations, and I'm excited to see us go."

Stevens might have a few more moves up his sleeve this offseason, but he expressed confidence in the current group of Celtics. His goal remains keeping the Celtics an annual contender, which is tough without the team's best player next season. But Stevens is always looking for ways to get the most out of the franchise's two foundational pieces, and that won't change.

"The best way to say it, since I moved into this role, my entire focus has been making sure we maximize around those guys," he said. "Much more than just this current window, it's the whole window."

• Boston Celtics