Celtics Trade Candidate Arises From Record-Breaking Franchise Sale

Bill Chisholm’s record-setting $6.1 billion purchase — the most for a North American sports franchise — addressed an eight-month-long mystery that’s loomed over the Boston Celtics amid their title defense campaign.

Chisholm, the managing partner at Symphony Technology Group and a Massachusetts native, will take over the reins at TD Garden moving forward, joining the Celtics alongside longtime majority owner and CEO Wyc Grousbeck at least through the 2027-28 season. The investment group led by Chisholm will inherit the $230 million projected salary it’ll take to keep Boston’s roster intact, which is on pace to make the Celtics the first team in NBA history to surpass a $500 million payroll once Jayson Tatum’s ($315 million) supermax kicks in next season.

To alleviate the incoming payroll bolder that’ll soon weigh over the new ownership group, the Celtics could make a move. Sam Hauser, who signed a four-year, $45 million extension last offseason, is the presumed No. 1 candidate to depart if team president of basketball operations Brad Stevens is tasked with lowering the payroll.

“By keeping Sam Hauser on your roster — his first year that extension kicks in — he’s worth $90M when you look at his salary, which is $10M, and then the additional $80 million in luxury tax penalties that come with it,” ESPN’s Bobby Marks reported on “NBA Today” Thursday. “So if they are looking at a move, it would certainly be shedding some of that money, which would be Sam Hauser.”

Boston made a similar move when the NBA trade deadline approached in February by sending guard Jaden Springer to the Houston Rockets. That trade reduced the Celtics’ tax penalty from $65.6 million to $50.2 million, all from offloading Springer’s $4 million salary. It’s also why the organization didn’t retain preseason standout Lonnie Walker IV, who signed an Exhibit 10 contract, but would’ve cost them another $11 million due to their status as a second-apron team.

It’s the harsh reality that’s come with Grousbeck’s work to assemble the most talented cast Tatum and Jaylen Brown have ever played with.

Kristaps Porzingis signed a $60 million extension upon joining the Celtics two offseasons ago, which was followed by paydays for Payton Pritchard ($30 million), Jrue Holiday ($135 million) and Derrick White ($125 million). Everyone except for Svi Mykhailiuk and Oshae Brissett was retained from the championship roster, and that’s not a typical occurrence for teams fresh off winning a title.

Tatum, Brown, Porzingis, Holiday, White and Pritchard are the priority core. Al Horford will turn 39 years old in June, and Luke Kornet and Torrey Craig’s contracts are set to expire at the end of the season. Neither of the three has a concrete-solid case to remain on board, especially if it’s at the detriment of Boston’s payroll — and Hauser, who’s taken a step back this season, has joined the crew.

Hauser, making $2 million this season before the extension takes effect, shot 42.4% from 3-point range last season — the fourth-best among players with 400-plus attempts. The undrafted Virginia product averaged a career-high nine points with 3.5 rebounds as one of head coach Joe Mazzulla’s most serviceable second-unit players.

That production hasn’t remained steady. Hauser is now averaging 7.7 points and 3.1 rebounds while shooting 40% from three on 5.3 attempts. Hauser’s sidestep and catch-and-shoot release haven’t been the same, raising a slight concern about the 27-year-old. Boston needed Hauser to work in tandem with Pritchard as the two biggest 3-point threats coming off the bench last season, but while Pritchard has ascended into the leading Sixth Man of the Year candidate, Hauser has regressed.

It’s unknown how much cost-cutting will be a part of Chisholm’s first year with the team. Grousbeck will remain involved, and although Chisholm is a self-acclaimed “die-hard” Celtics fan, inheriting the financial puzzle that’ll come with keeping their championship window alive for an extended period, won’t be easy.

“I bleed green,” Chisholm told ESPN’s Shams Charania. “I love the Celtics. When this opportunity came up, I couldn’t pass it up. Wyc has done an incredible job running this franchise. So why would you mess that up? The team is in a great place right now, and I’m very sensitive to that. Wyc, Brad and Joe have done amazing jobs and that’s all goodness that we want to continue.”