Kristaps Porzingis provided an update on his timeline for returning from surgery

Porzingis is expected to return to the court by December.

A crucial piece of the Celtics’ aim to repeat as champions will be the timeline of Kristaps Porzingis’s return to the court following offseason surgery.

Porzingis, 29, underwent a summer medical procedure to repair the torn retinaculum and dislocated posterior tibialis tendon he sustained in Game 2 of the NBA Finals.

Initial estimates placed Porzingis’s expected return date at around five to six months, closer to December.

And while that still appears to be the basic plan, the Celtics’ center also recently teased the possibility of a return sooner than expected.

“The expectation is sometime in December,” Porzingis told ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne as part of an expansive profile about the reigning champions. “But I’m feeling really good and I’m working towards hopefully playing earlier than that.”

At the team’s preseason media day on Tuesday, Porzingis expanded on his status.

“It was a rare injury,” he told reporters. “Got the surgery done right after the parade. Then it was three, four weeks kind of at home, hanging out. Then I was able to start doing more in August, now it’s already end of September and I’ve been doing a good amount of stuff, feeling pretty good.”

Porzingis explained that he was unsurprisingly advised by doctors and team medical staff to “not rush anything.”

“Obviously if you ask me, and not have to do my own protocol, I would probably go quicker. But that’s a good sign,” he added. “I’m feeling really good, my ankle’s feeling really good and the sooner I can get the green light to do more and more stuff, I’ll be happy. I’m sure I’ll be more than 100-percent ready for each stage [of injury rehab] that’s coming up now.”

Porzingis helped to lift the Celtics’ ceiling as a team during his first year in Boston. Playing in 57 games during last year’s regular season, he averaged 20.1 points per game along with 7.2 rebounds and 1.9 blocks.