The Boston Celtics are in unfamiliar territory, being that they are down 0-2 to the Knicks. Despite having a home-court advantage, Boston failed to pick up a single victory in front of their fans. This is a complete 180 compared to how they handled the Eastern Conference last season en route to the NBA championship. If this is a sign of what’s to come, the future won’t be desirable. ESPN analyst Brian Windhorst sends a firm reminder to the Celtics of their upcoming costly payroll beginning next season.
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The NBA’s recent Collective Bargaining Agreement has led to the demise of super teams. Franchises no longer have the means to retain their core if the salary exceeds a certain threshold. If a team dares to accept the increased luxury tax, once an organization is in the second round, there are huge implications for their future.
Boston gave all of their core players huge paydays either before or after their 2024 title run. Unfortunately, the team will become too expensive to keep together. Their payroll for next season is at an estimated $460 million, including taxes. That is nearly $300 million more than the 2024-25 season’s second-apron threshold of $188 million.
On ESPN’s First Take, Windhorst brought to light the unfortunate reality for the Celtics. His remainder served as a warning with their backs against the wall in their second-round series against the Knicks.
“I thought this was going to be a conversation for July, but next year their payroll is $460 million when you compute the taxes,” Windhorst started. He then proceeded to remind everyone what happens if the Celtics decide to keep their first-round draft pick, as well as Al Horford.
“If they keep their draft pick where they got a first-round pick this year and they fill out their roster, I don’t even know if they’re going to be able to bring Al Horford back, it’s going to top $500 million.” Currently, the Celtics own their first-round pick. If they were to add another rookie to their roster, that would propel their salary and tax price point to over $500 million.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen, but there’s a possibility this team is not going to come back,” Windhorst said. “If they don’t make it out of this series, I don’t know how you can justify spending $500 million on the roster again.”
Knowing how the next five games can perhaps decide their near future, we may see some added fire from Jayson Tatum and co. However, the Celtics haven’t seen the Knicks at their best yet, something which always comes out at the Mecca of basketball, the MSG. Game 3 is going to be crucial to the series, and everyone knows this.
Regardless of the outcome of this series, the Celtics may be forced to tear this core apart. On the other hand, an early second-round exit could very well guarantee a massive change to the roster for next season.
It’s important to note that the Celtics have a new ownership group in charge. The previous regime understood the financial implications and made a profit before they had to make the tough decisions. The Boston Basketball Partners purchased the team for roughly $6 billion. The last thing they want to do is incur further expenses.
As a new owner, having the most expensive sports team in history is not something you want in your name, especially if that team crashed out in the early rounds the previous season. However, we haven’t seen how Bill Chisholm manages his business. He might give the team another shot, even if the Knicks get the better of them this year.
