Celtics Split? NBA Insider Validates Vital Boston Trade Possibility

The Eastern Conference semifinals haven’t even begun yet, and rumors are pouring, insinuating the Boston Celtics won’t return with all of their premier cast, regardless of whether or not they capture banner 19.

That’s abrupt, especially for a star-filled core that was first assembled just two offseasons ago and hoisted a Larry O’Brien Trophy less than a year ago. But it’s also the cost of testing the limits of a flooding payroll as a second-apron franchise.

Boston is currently projected to become the first team in NBA history with a $500 million payroll, which isn’t realistic to maintain. The team has already sold to majority owner-in-waiting Bill Chisholm for a record-breaking $6.1 billion — the largest sale of any North American team — and the rest of the league is awaiting the next step. One possibility that could come to life: a split of the Jays?

“Everybody knows the finances and sees the books and understands that this is coming to an end one way or another,” NBA insider Brian Windhorst said on ESPN’s “First Take” on Friday. “So, the way this playoffs play out will be in effect. And so, because Jaylen Brown earns that big money, people are saying, ‘Is that gonna be the guy they’re gonna move?’ That may not necessarily be true. They may say, ‘We’re keeping Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown together come hell or high water, and we’ll try to find somewhere else to fill in these guys.’ But the reason they’re looking at Jaylen Brown is that that’s the highest-salaried player who potentially could move, and they could get themselves back to financial reasonability.”

Brown signed a five-year, $303 million supermax extension two years ago, marking the — at the time — richest contract ever netted in league history. It was well-deserved, and the homegrown four-time All-Star immediately rewarded the Celtics by wrapping up a career year last season as the conference finals and NBA Finals MVP. But getting Brown’s financial security squared away wasn’t the only step on team president of basketball operations Brad Stevens’ agenda.

It was the start of the reality that many in Boston likely aren’t prepared to accept.

Since Kristaps Porzingis ($60 million) and Jrue Holiday ($135 million) were both set before last year’s playoffs, Stevens next needed to take care of Tatum and Derrick White — and he did. Tatum’s $315 million supermax deal surpassed Brown as the largest signed in NBA history, and White stuck around on a four-year, $125 million payday. That ballooned the payroll, prematurely confirmed the team wouldn’t engage in any serious trade deadline pursuits, and still left others in need of an extension.

Sharpshooter Sam Hauser signed a four-year, $45 million deal while fellow reserves Luke Kornet and Xavier Tillman Sr. stuck around on minor one and two-year deals, respectively. In Hauser’s case, the 27-year-old is set to cost the Celtics $80 million in luxury tax penalties, even though he’ll earn only $10 million next season once his extension kicks in.

That’s a problem, now for Chishom and current majority owner Wyc Grousbeck — who’s committed to remain with the team until 2028 — to solve.

“They right now, if they kept this roster intact, would be facing — with taxes — a $450 million-ish payroll,” Windhorst said. “Their revenue is somewhere around $450 million a year. It’s not feasible. We have new ownership that is coming in, that is paying six-plus billion dollars for the team. Right now, this team was bought 20 years ago for less than their payroll is right now. They don’t have a mortgage. They’re operating in a house that they own and paying this.”

Tatum’s supermax will also kick in next season, and pre-playoff rumors suggested that the organization has given its must-keep candidates list some thought already.

For now, Tatum and Brown, undergoing their eight consecutive championship chase together, will remain focused on just that. They’ve spent nearly a decade re-establishing the franchise as a team capable of ruling the East, all while putting together their Hall of Fame cases respectively.

Considering how much the Tatum-Brown duo has meant to the Celtics, it’s hard to imagine Stevens, Chisholm and Grousbeck won’t explore every possible avenue to prioritize their tandem and keep them in place for the future.

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