Celtics co-owner downplays payroll concerns

The Celtics, on track to be a taxpaying team in 2023-24 for a second consecutive year, extended Jaylen Brown and Kristaps Porzingis to lucrative new contracts this offseason and may do the same with Jayson Tatum and Jrue Holiday within the next year. Those financial commitments mean the franchise is projected to remain over the second tax apron in the coming years, but co-owner Wyc Grousbeck downplayed any concern about the payroll, according to Souchi Terada of MassLive.com.

“We haven’t blinked at all,” Grousbeck said. “I was part of the committee that put the aprons in place with the players committee and we’re aware of all that. We’re going to be over the second (apron), I believe, and paying those penalties and that’s the way life is. But it’s designed also we can have more competition in the league, and we’re fine with competition, as long as we win.”

While paying increased tax penalties is one thing, the new Collective Bargaining Agreement will also place additional free agency and trade-related limitations on teams above the second tax apron. The rules that apply to teams over the second apron will become more restrictive in future seasons, limiting the Celtics’ ability to continue upgrading their roster as long as they maintain their high payroll.

Let’s round up a few more notes out of Boston…

• Wenyen Gabriel‘s new one-year contract with the Celtics is a non-guaranteed Exhibit 9 contract, tweets Keith Smith of Spotrac. Boston only has 10 players only fully guaranteed contracts, with three on non-guaranteed standard deals, so Gabriel (along with Lamar Stevens, who also signed an Exhibit 9 deal) still has a path to a regular season roster spot.
• Former Celtics star Paul Pierce, who attended the team’s practice on Thursday, plans to be a “more visible presence” around the organization this year, according to Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe. When Pierce was a Celtic, he explained on Thursday, former Boston stars like Bill Russell and John Havlicek often visited and spent time around the club. He wants to continue that tradition. “It just (brought) a certain energy to the building whenever I saw those guys in practice or at the game,” Pierce said. “So I think it kind of continues the brotherhood. It’s all part of our culture and that is something that the Celtics have always been about.”
• Speaking to Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report, Tatum expressed excitement about the Celtics’ addition of Holiday, discussed the departures of some longtime teammates, and said he’s not thinking about the possibility of signing a record-setting contract extension next summer.