The shock effect? ​​The Celtics facing a life-changing crisis!

Turn back to July 1, 2024. Ten days after the Celtics' championship celebration, team owner Grus Baker publicly announced that his family would choose to sell the team's controlling stake, which also shocked the entire NBA. But even so, the team still has a group of players at their peak, and they still choose the original team to compete in the new season. After retaining the complete lineup, he began to sprint with all his strength again, striving to defend his title and win the 19th championship flag in team history.

They won 61 games in the regular season and easily advanced to the first round of the playoffs in five games. Although there are constant turmoil at the top, their plans have never changed. The only goal at the moment is to continue to win, and then deal with the internal trading of the team after the next championship parade.

However, the plan cannot keep up with the changes. The Celtics faced an unexpected and critical third game at Madison Garden Plaza last Saturday. In the first two matches of the Eastern Conference semi-final series with the Knicks, they unexpectedly fell 0-2, and then stubbornly won a game in the third game.

Unfortunately, after losing today, the Celtics were still unable to reverse the disadvantage in this round of the series. As a champion team, their future will inevitably be questioned. In particular, they missed 75 three-pointers in the first two games and lost by squandering two consecutive games with a lead of more than 20 points.

From the current point of view, no matter what the results of this season, this champion team is about to face an uncertain future, and it will cost a huge price to maintain this team carefully built by Stevens.

Celtics are being sold to investor Bill Chisholm team, with a valuation of more than $6 billion. Chisholm is reportedly a big fan of the Celtics, who has been forming a consortium for the past period of time to raise the capital chain needed for this huge deal. Once the dust settles, the team, which sold for $360 million more than 20 years ago, will set a new record at an all-time price, which not only excites NBA seniors, but also makes everyone optimistic about the overall health of the league.

The Celtics knew that their present and future were tied to the two Tanhua wings, and they had long planned to let the two sign a long-term contract. This part of the plan was also implemented as expected. Jaylen Brown successfully renewed his contract in 2023, while Tatum completed his contract in 2024. The two contracts will allow them to work with the Celtics until 2030, with the total salary of their two exceeding $600 million.

As early as three years ago, when NBA team owners and the Players' Union discussed the new labor agreement, the Celtics regarded 2025 as a turning point. Regardless of the performance on the field, this node is near, Tatum's new contract is about to take effect, and the team is about to face the situation of luxury tax.

Among the core members of this Celtic team, only veteran center Horford is facing the expiration of the contract, and he is in the last year of the contract. Others, including defender White, Holiday (both both completed contract renewals in 2024), center Porzingis and sixth man Prichard, all of whom can continue for several years.

Generally speaking, this situation should be praised as excellent management. Since a strong team is built, it certainly needs to be maintained. Stevens and his team are indeed doing this at the moment. But the problems faced by the modern NBA are far more complicated than building a top team.

According to ESPN team salary expert Bobby Max, even if Horford does not renew his contract, the total salary of the Celtics will be as high as $464 million next season.

Celtics must retain their first-round draft pick. They need this draft pick to provide low-priced contracts, and they also need to use a basic salary contract to fill the lineup. Otherwise, if you are not careful, the total salary of the team may exceed the 500 million mark.

Last season, the Celtics set a team record in revenue due to the Finals and four rounds of home playoffs. Although they lost Dallas in the fourth finals, this defeat allowed them to win the championship and win the title at home, and also brought home a multi-million-dollar final home game. According to media reports, the team's annual revenue is about US$450 million.

is very simple, and you can see that it is directly compared with the numbers. This account seems to be becoming increasingly difficult to calculate.

This invisible financial storm can basically be built under the table this season. According to several internal sources, the team has not discussed future spending issues with any players, and their current main strategy is to keep the focus on the game court. Additionally, Stevens and his team have been working to keep players from considering the uncertainty of team ownership to help them focus on winning the playoffs.

From earlier this season, the NBA revealed a comparative advantage: The league has significantly increased the team's salary cap, from $275 million per team to $425 million per team, thanks to the league's new 11-year media copyright agreement, which will take effect next fall.

This news provides a financial buffer for every team in the league, including the Celtics.

In particular, the Celtics have not been able to go further in the playoffs, and the severity of the next step will be more difficult to predict. As other teams that have won championships in the past five years face, any financial advice will tell you not to spend $500 million on a team that hasn’t been able to return to the Eastern Conference Finals.

Of course, this should not be something players should consider. But there is no doubt that with the loss of this season, there will be more discussions on the existential threats faced by the defending champion team, and this part may even be a much more serious topic in addition to players and record..

From the current perspective, the Celtics' offseason prospects are not optimistic, and the team's future salary pressure is also not optimistic. As for how to choose next, at least there is no definite answer yet.