Is Boston Celtics owner Wyc Grousbeck hinting his successor plans to cut salary?
The Celtics, who will have the most expensive roster (clocking in at around $500 million in salary and taxes) in NBA history next season if no changes are made, are set to enter their first season dealing with the harshest penalties the league's collective bargaining agreement (CBA) allows for being a multi-season second-apron ball club. But it isn't the tax hit that will be the main concern, suggests the Celtics head honcho.
"It's not the luxury tax bill, it's the basketball penalties," said Grousbeck via NBC Sports' Kurt Helin. "The new CBA was designed by the league to stop teams from going crazy."
"They decided that it's not good enough to go after the wallets because the fans can be like, 'Hey find someone who can afford to spend $500 million dollars a year or whatever it is, like the English Premier League (...)," he added. "The basketball penalties mean that it's even more of a premium now to have your basketball general manager be brilliant and lucky."
"Because you have to navigate because you can't stay in the second apron, nobody will, I predict, for the next 40 years of the CBA, no one is going to stay in the second apron more than two years." Is Grousbeck signaling the length of the runway this iteration of the team will have? Or is this a general assessment of the lay of the league? Only time will tell.
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