When news broke in March that the Boston Celtics would be sold for $6.1 billion to an investor group led by Bill Chisholm, in the press release it was also announced that Wyc Grousbeck, the then-owner of the team, would stay on as governor until 2028. It was understood that Grousbeck would stay in his role and oversee basketball operations until the 2027-28 season to help with the transition of power to the new ownership group. However, that has now changed as ESPN reported Tuesday that Grousbeck will not remain governor of the team and that Chisholm will assume the title of governor “soon.”
That’s a massive reversal, but not entirely surprising given we just saw this happen not too long ago with the Dallas Mavericks. Former majority owner of the Mavericks Mark Cuban said on multiple occasions that he would still have control of basketball operations after a sale went through to make Miriam Adelson the new owner. But there was no mention in the official press release of Cuban still retaining basketball control. He confirmed later that he in fact did not have control over basketball operations, and was most vocal of that fact after Dallas pulled the stunning move to trade Luka Dončić to the Lakers back in February.
It was a move spearheaded by Mavs general manager Nico Harrison and approved by Adelson’s son-in-law Patrick Dumont, who has assumed the role of governor for the team. Cuban has said on multiple occasions that had he still been in charge, that trade would’ve never happened.
While not as dramatic as Dallas’ situation, it is notable that Grousbeck will no longer have control over basketball operations despite the initial announcement that he will. But again, it’s not shocking given that when new ownership comes in they oftentimes want to run things their own way and make their own decisions.
The timing of the decision, though, is interesting, considering the Celtics spent all summer shedding salary in an effort to get below the second luxiry-tax apron in order to avoid the harsh penalties that come with being a high-spending team. They’ve accomplished that by trading Kristaps Porziņģis and Jrue Holiday and not bringing back Luke Kornet and Al Horford. Were those decisions the new ownership group agreed with? Would they have structured some of those trades differently? Certainly they’re on board with cutting salary since Jayson Tatum‘s Achilles tear means they’ll be a play-in team next season. But something had to have made Chisholm come to the decision that Grousbeck will no longer serve in his role.
The question now becomes about what Chisholm envisions for this Celtics team going forward. Next season will be a wash because Tatum won’t be around. But for the 2027-28 season will the Celtics try to reload and build another contender around Tatum and Jaylen Brown? Will they consider trading one of those two guys? Those now becomes questions for Chisholm to answer, and we’ll have to wait and see if Boston changes course or alters its way of team building with him now fully in charge.
