Fans of the Boston Celtics were not thrilled with how the team elected to break up their 2024 title core by trading away Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday while letting Luke Kornet and Al Horford (presumably) walk in free agency. And some point to the new ownership group led by private equity magnate Bill Chisholm as the villain behind Boston’s cost-cutting moves this summer.

But former Celtics majority owner and lead Governor Wyc Grousbeck did his best to dispel such points of view when Chisholm and the rest of the team’s new ownership group were introduced to the media this week on Thursday (Sep. 25), suggesting that the penalties levied by the NBA’s second apron status were severe enough to have made such moves a fait acompli. “This type of move would have happened whether or not the team was sold,” said Grousbeck.

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“I was on the committee that really wrote these new rules and negotiated them with the players, wrote them together with the players — to make it much more tough to just go and buy a championship,” he added.

Sep 25, 2025; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Celtics co-owner, alternate governor and CEO Wyc Grousbeck listens as a question is asked during a press conference at the Auerbach Center. Mandatory Credit: Eric Canha-Imagn Images

Sep 25, 2025; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Celtics co-owner, alternate governor and CEO Wyc Grousbeck listens as a question is asked during a press conference at the Auerbach Center. Mandatory Credit: Eric Canha-Imagn Images

“We have to have teams competing on a basically even financial keel, no matter who owns them and then have the best front office and the best good luck probably, as well, the best players (…),” said the former Celtics majority owner. “We wrote that very specifically at the league a few years ago and agreed on it with the players. It was very purposeful and intentional to keep building the parity in the league.”

Celtics fans may not be all that excited that a push for parity came into fruition at exactly the moment Boston was ready to contend for titles again. But Grousbeck’s assessment of where the NBA is at in terms of spending is not wrong in this collective bargaining agreement — and at least for now, there has been no evidence that the Celtics new owners are less willing to defy those penalties than any other team in the league.

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This article originally appeared on Celtics Wire: Ex-Celtics majority owner Wyc Grousbeck says summer moves inevitable