Recapping Bill Chisholm’s first year as Celtics owner

Friday marks the one-year anniversary of Bill Chisholm’s purchase of the Celtics, taking over during one of the most interesting seasons in the franchise’s history.

Less than two months into his tenure, Jayson Tatum ruptured his Achilles tendon before the Knicks eliminated the Celtics in the second round of the NBA playoffs. Their future was suddenly uncertain, an unimaginable outcome for a team contending for back-to-back titles.

The Celtics opted to reset their payroll ahead of the 2025-26 season rather than compete with a roster that — even without Tatum — had already won together. The franchise was $56.4 million over the luxury tax at the end of the season, causing them to get beneath the NBA’s second apron to avoid harsh roster-building penalties.

Those modifications included trading away Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis while letting Al Horford and Luke Kornet walk in free agency, all of whom were key pieces to the franchise’s 18th championship banner in 2024. Anfernee Simons, a veteran volume shooter on an expiring deal, was the team’s biggest summer acquisition while it gambled on young, inexperienced talent.

Some paid off, others didn’t.

Neemias Queta emerged as a starting-caliber center while Simons grew into a role off the bench. Queta’s production was vital for the Celtics, who lacked big-man depth at the outset of the season.

However, none of it was enough to push the Celtics’ external expectations over the top due to Tatum’s extended absence. They were predicted to be a playoff team, maybe one that could finish above the play-in line to achieve an automatic first-round appearance.

Then Jaylen Brown happened.

Brown had yearned for the opportunity to lead an NBA team as a No. 1 option, an important metric for many star players. It was his chance to prove himself, a special opportunity considering his absence from Team USA in the 2024 Summer Olympics was a controversial decision. Despite winning the 2024 Finals MVP and leading Boston to its first championship since 2008, questions remained about how impactful he could be with a limited roster without its superstar.

Brown silenced his critics.

The Celtics have risen to the top of the Eastern Conference while Brown has put together an MVP-caliber season. He’s averaging 28.5 points on 48.0 percent shooting, 7.0 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game. It has been enough to put his squad four games behind the conference’s first-place Pistons, whose Cade Cunningham is out for at least two weeks with a collapsed lung.

Brad Stevens, Boston’s President of basketball operations, refined his roster at the trade deadline as it rose to a true contender. He dealt Simons to the Bulls for Nikola Vucevic in February, giving his team much-needed big-man depth. The veteran center averaged 10.4 points and 7.2 rebounds in 12 games in Boston before he broke his finger, forcing him to miss at least a month.

Perhaps more important than any on-court addition was Stevens moving on from end-of-the-bench rotational players to get under the first apron and luxury tax, allowing the Celtics to begin resetting their repeater tax clock. They will have to be under the tax for one more season for the clock to officially restart, eliminating the financial penalties for teams that continue to spend above the limit.

Now the Celtics — with a healthy Tatum — are in a prime position to not only represent the Eastern Conference in the NBA Finals, but to win Banner 19.