NBA Rumors: Kristaps Porzingis gives concrete timeline for his Celtics return

NBA Rumors: At NBA Media Day, Kristaps Porzingis tells reporters he's hoping to return from injury at some point in December, if not before.

As the Boston Celtics evolved into one of the NBA's most dominant teams en route to winning a championship, Kristaps Porzingis was at the center of their success. He completely changed the dynamic for the Celtics, giving the team a threat as a big man they didn't have previously. However, in the postseason, a couple of injuries would limit his impact.

KP still managed to play in seven postseason games for the Celtics, but he was clearly far from his regular-season self. Despite KP's playoff injuries, the Celtics still managed to dominate their way to an NBA Championship. However, the second injury required surgery to repair a torn retinaculum and dislocated posterior tibialis tendon in his left leg. The initial timeline for a possible return was a few months.

As the Celtics reported for training camp, KP updated reporters with a much more concrete timeline on his potential return to the floor.

""The expectation is sometime in December. But I'm feeling really good and I'm working towards hopefully playing earlier than that.""

- Kristaps Porzingis on a potential return

Assuming he does return in December, that means there's a chance KP only misses the first 20-ish games of the season. If that does end up being the case, that would be a huge win for the Celtics.

The Boston Celtics should be fine without KP for a few months

Even if KP isn't able to return to the floor until mid-December, the Celtics should be perfectly fine. The Celtics aren't the deepest team in the frontcourt but have deep talent at nearly every other position. As the defending NBA Champions, the Celtics are probably going to be more worried about getting to the start of the NBA Playoffs healthy.

Not having a completely healthy roster until December won't be that huge of an issue for a team that won 60-plus regular season games a year ago. KP's most recent update is certainly good news for the Celtics. If he's back by December, it will give Boston the entire second half of the season to find their stride as a team.

All that said, the Celtics don't have time to waste. With the way their salary cap is set up, they don't have a ton of wiggle room to win championships. Their time is now.