Celtics Owner Wyc Grousbeck Is Prepared To Pay A Hefty Tax Bill To Keep This Team Together


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The Boston Celtics figure to be better next year, upon the return of stars Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward. The Celtics have done an incredible job drafting and developing talent in recent years, best evidenced by the success they’re having this postseason thanks to Terry Rozier, Jaylen Brown, and Jayson Tatum.

Marcus Smart has also been a key cog in the Celtics success since being drafted in 2014, providing a toughness and defensive presence that is much needed in Boston. Smart will hit restricted free agency this summer, which creates an interesting question for the Celtics moving forward.

Smart will likely get something in the $12-15 million range annually, which would run Boston’s salary cap figure for next season as high as $123 million, not factoring in potential additions in the draft and minimum deals to fill out a 14 or 15-man roster. The problem isn’t just next season, because $123 million isn’t all deep into the luxury tax, but as more of these young stars come off of their rookie deals (Rozier in 2019 and Brown in 2020) they’ll be commanding significant deals.

Irving will likely be a free agent next summer, given that his $21 million player option comes up well short of his market value if healthy, while Al Horford will almost assuredly take his $30 million player option. To re-sign Irving and Rozier, Boston will find themselves staring at a monstrous tax bill as repeaters after creeping into the tax this season, which has caused some to wonder how long the Celtics can realistically keep this team together before looking to shuffle things around.

According to Celtics owner Wyc Grousbeck, he’s willing to spend handsomely to keep this group together provided the team’s success continues over the coming years.

That’s easy to say now when the team is entering Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals, but we’ll have to see if he keeps that same energy when the summer of 2019 rolls around (or if Smart gets a huge offer sheet this summer). Boston stands to be a contender for a long time with their young core coupled with established stars, but eventually that young core will no longer be on rookie deals and will command serious money on the RFA market.

Jaylen Brown appears destined for a max offer sheet in 2020 and Terry Rozier will likely get some significant offers in 2019. All of this begs the question of whether there are some roster moves to be made by Danny Ainge this summer or at the next trade deadline to give the roster, which is very wing and backcourt heavy, more balance and maybe look to shed a high-ticket player (like Hayward) who will be tossed into an already robust wing rotation and is on the hook for nearly $100 million over the next three years.

If they do truly keep this group together, the cost in 2020 and beyond will be incredible and you can bet at that price tags championships will be the expectation.

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