Brad Stevens reveals the openness of ownership to future consumption

ByNBAUSA



BOSTON — The Boston Celtics were very busy at the trade deadlinebut they weren’t exactly big spenders. Instead, they sold smaller contracts, saved money and ducked under the luxury tax after going well above it in the summer.

To regain financial flexibility and avoid tax aprons, which have become quite devastating due to the latest CBA, the Celtics traded wing Josh Minotforward Chris Boucherand big man Xavier Tillman Sr. before the February 5 deadline.

They too dealt guard Anferni Simmons to the Chicago Bulls in exchange for center Nikola Vucevicand while it saved the C’s about $6 million, the Celtics’ president of basketball operations Brad Stevens said the move was about filling a positional need.

“The directive this trade deadline was to see if we could, again, find some size where we could give ourselves a little bit more depth, and make sure we’re more prepared for some of the physical things that come our way if we’re able to end up being in the playoffs,” he said at a news conference Friday morning at the Auerbach Center.

Still, the Celtics cut some of the costs of trading Simmons, and any time there’s a lot of selling in the front office, fans can be concerned — especially in Boston. Many New Englanders have grown weary Boston Red Sox refuses to make a big splash in recent years and have often criticized ownership as valuing its own bottom line more than the good of the team.

Brad Stevens is not committed to living under the luxury tax

When Celtics owner Bill Chisholm has officially taken over the Green Team in 2025some fans worried that he would be as stingy as Red Sox management. However, Stevens maintained that despite the Celtics’ recent cash-saving maneuvers, they will spend when the time comes.

“But next year, if we look at something and say, ‘We’ve got to take advantage of it right now,’ then we’re going to try to take advantage of it,” Stevens described the Celtics’ spending plan. “Bill was really clear with that.”

Any big outlay would likely put the Cs back in the luxury tax. In addition, they are currently already in recurrence tax, resulting in significantly higher tax rates.

Despite this fact, Stevens said there is no directive from ownership to avoid the luxury tax again next season. If true, it will allow the Celtics to monitor free agency this summer and possibly find additional star help Jayson Tatum and Jailen Brownwho collectively earn more than $100 million a year.

However, Boston was still able to spend before then, as it can now hit the buyout market after being freed from restrictive tax aprons. Stevens even hinted at his future moves, suggesting the Celtics could beef up their roster by giving standard contracts to a few of their guys on two-way deals.

Regardless of how the front office does it, Stevens emphasized the Celtics’ need to hold the ball with the loss of Simmons.

“We’ll end up filling the roster spot with at least one more ballplayer and then see how the rest of the needs play out,” he said.

As Stevens searches, The Celtics will try to continue their winning ways. They are currently 33-18 overall and are third in the Eastern Conference, just 4.5 games behind the first place Detroit Pistons.

But before the C’s can consider the No. 1 seed, they’ll need to focus on going into the All-Star break with some momentum. Boston has won four games in a row and will look to make it five when it hosts the Miami Heat at TD Garden on Friday night.





2026-02-07 00:53:00

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