For Celtics ownership, the money is all about winning

http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/celtics/2018/05/for_celtics_ownership_the_money_is_all_about_winning




For Celtics ownership, the money is all about winning




Steve Bulpett Tuesday, May 29, 2018




Wic Grousbeck as the Boston Celtics take on the Bucks in game 7 of the first round of the NBA playoffs at the Garden.   Saturday,  April  28, 2018.  (Staff photo by Stuart Cahill)
Credit: Stuart Cahill




Each roster decision will be based on its own relative merits, but it seems safe to assume at this point that money won’t break up the Celtics.

CEO Wyc Grousbeck didn’t want to discuss dollars in a conversation with the Herald, but he let it be known with a good measure of clarity that ownership is willing to spend to keep this team together and bid for championships.


On the most immediate horizon is Marcus Smart and his restricted free agent status. The Celts will undoubtedly give him the $6,053,719 qualifying offer to maintain their right of first refusal, but, if the sides cannot work something out before, Smart is expected to command at least twice that in the marketplace.

It is not known precisely what the point is at which the Celtics will believe it doesn’t make sense to match, but the No. 1 choice of both the team and the player is each other.

If the Celts get to keep Smart, it’s hard not to see them moving into the luxury tax bracket, and it’s likely they will be even deeper into it after next season when Kyrie Irving has a player option (Al Horford, too).

And while Danny Ainge is charged with shaping the roster, the financial decisions are made above him on the organizational chart. And the overriding decision appears to have been already made.

“We put winning ahead of everything else,” said Grousbeck. “Every now and then you’ve got to make room and play the kids and get a Gordon Hayward in free agency, and other times you just try to keep a core together and build onto it. And we’re in the latter stage right now in trying to keep this group together and build onto it as best we can.

“We can’t keep everybody if we’re going to keep adding (because of roster size limitations), but everybody who’s watched this team for 15 years knows what we’re about, and we appreciate everybody watching the team for 15 years.

“Everybody knows how we’ve run this team for 15 years, and everybody can just watch and wait and see — and you’ll see then. But we live for banners. We live for rings. That’s what we live for.

“In my first press conference ever, in December of 2002, people asked what does it mean, Banner 17? Why did you name the company Banner 17? I said, ‘Because I’m going win banner No. 17 or I’m going to die trying.’ And nothing’s changed, except it’s Banner 18 now.”

Ainge was understandably reticent to commit someone else’s money when he spoke on Monday in the wake of the Celtics’ Game 7 elimination at the hands of the Cavaliers. But after getting permission to sign max contract free agents in both 2016 and ‘17 and trade for another last summer, there was no doubt the club would be pushing beyond the basic salary cap.

“Hopefully we’ll have an expensive roster,” Ainge told reporters. “And I think that we’ve been managing the payroll pretty well up to this point, and we know that there’s some really big, tough decisions going forward.

“We know that in Boston our ownership group has been fantastic, and they’ve been very willing to pay for teams that have a chance. And I think that the way that our team played this year [and] the hope that there is, I think that that will make it easier for them to step forward and realize the potential of this team and be willing to pay the money that we need to to be as good as we can.”

Grousbeck fairly echoed that sentiment with both head and heart. It’s easy to be optimistic about the team that came within several minutes of the NBA Finals despite missing Irving and Hayward and got to better develop people like Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Terry Rozier in their absence.

But it seems there is more to it than that for Grousbeck.

“This team, out of the 15 teams, might be my favorite in one way, which is the underdog spirit and the dive on the floor, do whatever it takes,” he said. “Marcus Smart obviously dives on the floor half the plays, but everybody in their own way is going over and above. And they’re all about each other. I haven’t seen one selfish play this whole season that I can remember.

“I’m on fire about this team. I couldn’t love them any more. I’m getting goosebumps talking about them.”

His business instincts may cause a different reaction when the Celtics have to sign the checks in coming seasons, but, then again, winning is generally good business.



bob


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It is good news to hear that the owners are willing to dip their toes into the luxury tax pool to maintain a competitive roster.  How deep are they really willing to go?

There are degrees of participation and rarely a blank check to just fill out.  The Tax gets progressively worse for repeat offenders so each dollar times 3 may be the real cost.

Valuation of players are of vital importance.  

Danny says all of the right things.  Wyc says all of the right things.  And Marcus lobbies for his next contract in his exit interview.

In a soft market the suggested market value of $12 million for a player like Marcus Smart seems reasonable.  Just look at all those nice contracts that were signed by players like KO or even Evan Turner.

However, a lot of teams are now suffering from buyer's remorse.  Just ask the Raptors if they over-paid for Serge Ibaka or if the Clippers gave Danilo Gallinari too much dough.  Teams overspend because they overvalue players.

The NBA is entering a hard market this summer.  Yes big money will be redistributed to the top free agents by the few teams that have CAP space but most teams will be bargain hunting.  The tax paying teams will offer up a reduced MLE amount and those under the tax may use the full MLE.  In either case teams may use it to sign multiple players.  Bargain shopping will be rampant this summer.

Marcus says he love Boston and wants to stay with Boston but seems like every player that plays here says the same thing.  But is he willing to take the QO for a year and buy his UFA for next year?  Is he willing to take a plunge down the rabbit hole?  Once you go down there it is hard to find your way out.

Marcus may be in for a big disappointment.  Danny is not going to give him a hometown raise.  Danny will offer no more than the bare minimum that it takes to sign him and given what has transpired this year he may want to have another look see before making any longterm commitment to Marcus.  Danny decided not to extend him this year because he knows that he may be able to keep him for short money and probably because he was looking for a measurable improvement.

The best case scenario for Marcus is that his agent does a great selling job to interested teams.  Selling game impact for one side of the court is not easy.  Explaining what happened with the picture frame incident will not be easy.  Justifying a virtual straight line improvement will not be easy.  

All of these things play right into Danny's wheelhouse.

Marcus has a best case scenario and so does Danny.  The QO may be the best deal for Danny.  A one year look and see AGAIN contract and no long term commitment yet.  This would also give Boston another year to decide on the fate of Terry Rozier.

I hope that everyone remembers the fiscal trouble the Celtics were in when Danny took over the helm of Celtics Nation. All the experts said that it was a franchise in trouble with no light at the end of a long dark tunnel. Danny didn't wait around trying to figure things out. He traded Antoine Walker's untradeable contract and the legend of Trader Danny was born.

But he didn't stop there. He really has become a master of not overvaluing player potential. He signed promising rookies to 4 year contracts instead of 3 so he could control that player for a longer time on a cheaper contract.

He became known for sending players on their way via sign and trade and players started to trust that they would get a fair deal in Boston. Other GM's learned that they could contact Danny to go in on a deal they were working on and Danny started to collect assets. He pulled off the Nets heist.

But Danny isn't perfect. He has had a hard time drafting or trading for reliable bigs. That is one reason I think he went in on Al Horford. He needed a dependable big with a solid skill set. If he overpaid it wasn't by very much.

Danny has earned his position in the driver's seat of the Celtics. He is not going to overpay for Smart. He will tender the QO and wait to decide if he will match a contract or not. He will do the same thing next year with TRo. Bird has walked through the door and will be in play for minutes next year. More deals that tweak are possible. No big deals are probable.

We remain

17goingon18