This to me is the crucial question of the off-season. I'm interested to see what people think.
Will Brad's first offseason be defined by the goal of finding ways to improve the talent level and/or experience on the roster in the hopes of increasing the team's current competitiveness?
Or will it be defined by the need to cut salary to avoid a huge luxury tax bill for a team coming off a season in which it struggled to stay above .500 and lost in 5 in the first round?
Couple reminders:
Before re-signing any free agents or adding any salary, the Celtics will be within a couple million of the luxury tax line.
The luxury tax penalty begins at $1 for $1, but once a team is $10-20 million into the tax, each additional dollar is taxed at a rate of $3+, which means the bill gets very large very fast.
For example, if the Celtics give Evan Fournier a $20 million per year deal, that will essentially mean paying an additional $40-50 million (or more) for Fournier. Fournier may be worth $20 million ... does ownership feel he's worth $60, $70, or $80 million?
The Celtics have paid the luxury tax before, but they have never gone as deep into the tax as will be required for them to, for example, retain Evan Fournier without dumping at least one big contract (e.g. Smart or Kemba).