With two games remaining before the NBA All-Star break, the Boston Celtics possess the league’s best record and have continued their run through the Eastern Conference. Boston currently is the betting favorite to claim the NBA championship at season’s end, a position the Green have held since the start of the campaign.
Of course, the play of all-stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown has had a major role in that, as has the team’s unmatched roster depth. But Celtics governor and principle owner Wyc Grousbeck, the team’s ownership and front office have played a crucial part, too.
Specifically as it relates to Grousbeck, he has followed through on one offseason declaration: Spending wouldn’t be an issue.
Grousbeck went on 98.5 The Sports Hub in late June, shortly after the Celtics came up short in the NBA Finals, and acknowledged that ownership was more than comfortable spending into the luxury tax.
“Here’s the point: It’s never, ever in business at the Celtics,” Grousbeck said on the “Felger & Mazz” show when asked if the organization was comfortable spending into the tax. “… And there’s no question. Whatever needs to be done, can be done, can possibly be done.”
Grousbeck and ownership have followed through, as pointed out Tuesday in a story by ESPN’s Brian Windhorst. In a piece acknowledging how NBA contenders are spending in pursuit of titles, Windhorst noted how the Celtics have spent even more in luxury tax following last week’s trade for Mike Muscala. Muscala’s trade will cost Boston an additional $6 million making for more than $60 million in taxes on top of a $175 million payroll.
“The Celtics have never spent like this,” Windhorst wrote. “In the previous nine seasons, the Celtics spent a total of $3 million in taxes.”
Well, it has the Celtics in a favorable position entering the unofficial second half of the season and has helped accomplish Grousbeck’s top priority: Winning.
