Celtics’ new ownership group already faces a difficult task

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Wyc Grousbeck and company have agreed to sell the Boston Celtics to a group led by an area native, venture capitalist Bill Chisholm, at a record-setting valuation of $6.1 billion, per ESPN’s Shams Charania.

Chisholm immediately finds himself in an awkward situation.

On the one hand, the Celtics are the NBA’s defending champions. Led by Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, they captured their record 18th championship last season, and their title defense, at least in the regular season, has been as impressive as any in recent memory. They can absolutely win it all again this season.

Chisholm now owns the most successful franchise in league history and could pad his advantage by June.

On the other hand, a massive tax bill comes due next season. It is the reason the ownership group led by Grousbeck and Stephen Pagliuca opened bidding for the team. According to ESPN’s Bobby Marks, payroll and tax penalties could cost the Celtics close to another record of $500 million for the 2025-26 season.

This is what happens when everyone in the starting lineup is owed more than $28 million next season. This past summer, Tatum signed the richest contract in NBA history, surpassing the deal Brown signed in 2023. Jrue Holiday, Kristaps Porziņģis and Derrick White have all signed extensions since joining Boston.

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It is a poorly kept secret that Holiday could find himself on the trading block at the end of the season. He is owed $104.4 million through the 2027-28 campaign. Shedding that salary would exponentially save Boston on its luxury tax bill, maybe even enough to make the team profitable for Chisholm next season.

The Celtics have Payton Pritchard as a reserve guard waiting in the wings, and they could remain competitive with him in place of Holiday, though the roster would be decidedly worse. However they shed salary, parting with Porziņģis or White or any high salary will be making the team less talented.

So Chisholm is faced with the difficult task of purchasing a potential back-to-back champion and immediately making them worse. It is a tough spot, no matter how much fans…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/nba/article/celtics-new-ownership-group-already-faces-a-difficult-task-164525707.html

Author : Ben Rohrbach

Publish date : 2025-03-20 16:45:00

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