Boston Celtics general manager Brad Stevens addressed the team’s upcoming offseason by saying ‘you don’t want to make rash decisions’ following a disappointing playoff exit.
The Celtics’ title defense ended in disaster after falling to the New York Knicks in the second round, marred by Jayson Tatum’s achilles tear in Game 4 at Madison Square Garden.
Jaylen Brown was also playing with a partial meniscus tear, Kristaps Porzingis continued to suffer from the lingering effects of a mystery viral illness and the stars simply didn’t align for Boston.
We have undoubtedly seen the current Celtics core on the floor together for the last time already with a host of roster changes expected to arrive this offseason.
During Stevens’ exit interview, he discussed how the front office will approach the summer as Boston prepare to enter a new era.
“I like to give everybody a few days to take a deep breath, because you don’t want to make decisions that are rash or emotional. And we’ve got a lot to sift through and sort out and think about.
“And we’ll do that. So there’ll be a lot of us in the room. And we’ll take the time over the next couple of weeks to do that.”
WATCH: Brad Stevens’ end of season press conference
What does the new CBA mean for the Celtics roster?
The league has implemented rules changes in the new collective bargaining agreement to make life difficult for high-spending teams. The Celtics are projected to be about $20 million above the second apron line at this stage.
The new collective bargaining agreement means teams that remain above the second apron for years at a time can have future first-round picks frozen (ineligible to be traded) and moved to the back of the first round.
The second apron is an intense penalty zone for offending teams and is a reaction to high-spending ‘superteams’ of recent times. Teams don’t have access to the taxpayer midlevel exception and cannot use trade exceptions created when combining the salaries of multiple players.
The Celtics’ ballooning payroll and extensive tax penalties is not a sustainable business model, so something was bound to change eventually.
If Boston kept all 12 players who are under contract for next season, the combined salary and luxury tax bill would come to $500 million – the biggest in league history.
Adjustment is coming and that could mean shedding the salary of Kristaps Porzingis or Jrue Holiday as the Celtics aim to come below the second apron again.
