While Bill Chisholm will have final say in the decision-making process for the Boston Celtics, he said he will continue to empower Brad Stevens. Stevens has been retained to run basketball operations for the Celtics as Chisholm takes over as governor from Wyc Grousbeck.
“There is such a thing as the new owner curse, and I’m well aware of that,” Chisholm said. “And ultimately, just kind of being self-aware in terms of what your strengths and weaknesses are, and surrounding yourself with people that are the best – the best people, the best of the best. And the way the decisions (have) been made here to date, that’s what you’re gonna see going forward as well, where those basketball decisions, Brad is driving that for sure.”
Stevens said he has received support already from Chisholm.
“I think any time you have a major change, the first thing is, ‘Well, what will that change do to the day to day?'” Stevens said. “And I can care less about me, but the 65 people that work here (in basketball operations), Rich [Gotham] has 100-plus people who work downtown (on the business side), you’re more concerned about that than anything else.
“And I think from day one, Bill and his group, the humility, the care, the passion was not just shown in words, it was not just shown in showing up to a game on the road, it was in, ‘Hey, you have the power to do your job.'”
The Celtics unloaded significant salary this offseason and remain $12.1 million over the luxury tax. There is an expectation they could get all the way below the luxury tax to restart the repeater tax.
“You have to give yourself the flexibility and opportunity to jump at the right deals,” Stevens said. “You don’t always know when those are going to present themselves. So the second apron was the key. After that, we’re looking at it from the standpoint of, let’s see what this team looks like, let’s put our very best foot forward, let’s let Joe (Mazzulla), the staff, the players – let’s all work to maximize ourselves, with an attitude of no ceilings and no limitations, and go after it.
“And we’ll evaluate the roster like we always will as the year goes on, but there’s no tax goal. …And listen, we’ve said goodbye to awesome people and really good players. But I think we’ve added people that are excited to add their strengths together and see what we can do.”
While the Celtics are cutting payroll and luxury tax penalties this season, Chisholm stressed he will approve going back up in the future.
“My goal and my high-level direction to Brad and the team is let’s do whatever we can to win championships and raise banners, and raise as many as we can, both in the near term and also in the medium to the long term, as well,” Chisholm said.
“We’re going to do everything we can to win. That is job No. 1. And not just win games – win championships.”