Wyc Grousbeck confirms changes are coming to Celtics

Last Thursday morning, news broke that an offer to buy the Boston Celtics for a whopping $6.1 billion had been accepted, and is now awaiting approval from the NBA Board of Governors to set it in stone. The offer was led by William Chisholm, managing director of the Symphony Technology Group.

Wyc Grousbeck, the current majority owner of the Celtics, stated that Chisholm asked him to stay with the team as the CEO and Governor for the first three years, and Wyc said that he is glad to do so.

It seems odd to say, but Celtics fans have been holding their breath despite being the reigning champs and a favorite to win the title again this season. The uneasiness doesn’t come from Boston’s ability to compete this season, though; it comes from the uncertain future.

The Celtics have the third highest payroll in the NBA this season. As of now, they’re projected to have the highest next year. Fans were already worried that the current ownership group would be unwilling to sustain the high spending to keep the team together for an extended period of time, and now with the shift in ownership, that fear is amplified.

Well, after the sale was made public, it seems as though Grousbeck confirmed that those fears were partly justified.

In an interview with The Greg Hill Show, Wyc was asked to address speculation about the new ownership group looking to change the roster to save money on the luxury tax bill. “It’s not the luxury tax bill; it’s the basketball penalties,” said Grousbeck. He continued, “you gotta navigate, because you can’t stay in the second apron — nobody will. I predict for the next 40 years of this CBA, no one’s gonna be in the second apron for more than two years.”

He essentially gave a clear indication that changes are coming to the roster at the end of this season. Wyc made sure to note that the decisions will be made by President of Basketball Operations Brad Stevens, though. “We have Brad Stevens, the reigning Executive of the Year,” he said. “He’s looking at this, and he is going to extend our window, and make it work… We’ll find out in June [or] July what he decides to do.”

Fans won’t be too happy to hear this, but Wyc isn’t wrong — it’s not about the money, and changes do need to come. More than the luxury tax, the penalties for staying in the second apron have become incredibly harsh from a roster-building standpoint.

For those unfamiliar, let’s breakdown how the caps and aprons work.

The NBA uses a “soft” salary cap, meaning that teams can exceed the cap with their roster’s total salary, but in doing so, they begin to face taxes on every dollar spent above the cap. Once they go a certain amount over the cap, they are then forced to pay an additional luxury tax. Lastly, there are two thresholds beyond the luxury tax which begin to pose even harsher penalties and restrictions — the first and second aprons.

For the 2024-2025 season, the thresholds for each of these are as follows:

Salary Cap: $140,588,000
Luxury Tax: $170,814,000
First Apron: $178,132,000
Second Apron: $188,931,000

These numbers will scale up in subsequent years, with the final numbers being determined prior to the start of the seasons.

In terms of basketball penalties, teams who are in the first apron are limited in how they can acquire players. They can no longer sign players via sign-and-trade, and they also can’t sign players who were bought out of their contracts if the player’s last salary was higher than the non-taxpayer mid-level exception (NTMLE), which was approximately $12.8 million this season. In addition, they can’t take in more money than they’re sending out in trades, are ineligible to use any portion of the bi-annual exception, can’t use more than the taxpayer portion of the mid-level exception (MLE), and they can no longer use trade exceptions (TPE) which were made in the previous season.

If a team is over the second apron, all of the first apron penalties carry over, and some harsher penalties and restrictions are tacked on. These teams are completely barred from using any portion of the MLE, cannot aggregate two or more salaries in a trade unless doing so gets them back to the first apron, can’t send out cash as part of a trade, and can’t acquire a player using a TPE if it was created by sending out a player via sign-and-trade.

There is also a new penalty which kicked in this season. Teams above the second apron will now have their first-round pick in the draft seven years away be frozen such that it can’t be traded. If their salary exceeds the apron for three seasons in a five-year span, the pick would automatically be moved to the end of the first round. It only becomes tradeable again if the team is below the second apron for three of the next four years after the team first finished over the second apron.

It’s also important to note that teams can get hard-capped at each level, meaning that they can no longer exceed the caps in terms of total salary when they do. This happens if a team were to make a move that would be illegal under the next apron above them. For example, if a team were to acquire a player via sign-and-trade while below the first apron, they would then be hard-capped at the first apron. If they were to use any portion of the MLE while over the first apron, but under the second, they would be hard-capped at the second apron.

So, with all that out of the way, what does this mean for the Celtics?

Boston is a second-apron team for the 2024-25 season. They have no way of getting under the threshold by the end of the season given that the trade deadline has already passed. That means that their first-round pick in the 2032 draft has been frozen, and is ineligible to be traded unless the team gets back under the second apron.

On top of that, their ability to make trades or sign players is incredibly crippled. They’ll only be able to sign new players on veteran minimums, can’t use any trade exceptions, can’t send cash in trades, and cannot combine player salaries in trades unless it gets them under the second apron. If the Celtics were to stay above the second apron in any two of the next four years, the 2032 first round pick would also be moved to the end of the round.

Boston is projected to be well into the second apron next year. They will have 11 players under contract, with Al Horford, Luke Kornet, and Torrey Craig set to be free agents at the end of this year. If they want to get under the second apron, they would have to shed the salary of at least one of Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Jrue Holiday, Kristaps Porzingis, or Derrick White.

While I never say never, I think it’s safe to say that Jayson, Jaylen, and Derrick are unlikely to be moved. That leaves Kristaps and Jrue on the chopping block. Porzingis will be on the final year of his deal, making just over $30.7 million. Jrue, on the other hand, is under contract until 2027 with a player-option in 2028. He will be making $32.4 million next year.

As Wyc said, Brad Stevens will be looking to navigate through this in the offseason, aiming to get the Celtics below the second apron, but still hoping to keep the team competitive. All that is to say when — not if — we eventually do see Boston start to break up, don’t jump to call the owners cheap. There’s a lot at more at play here.