Jake Fischer Latest: More changes, inevitably, are coming in Boston

Such is the unavoidable consequence of the luxury tax math for the Celtics even after the franchise was sold for a record $6.1 billion

Whatever happens from here in Boston, this much is clear: The Celtics' major stakeholders hold the strongest possible affinity for Brad Stevens.

All of them.

Boston's president of basketball operations met with all four of the final ownership groups bidding to purchase the franchise from majority owner Wyc Grousbeck's family. It's a development that reminded me of an interaction with Celtics ownership partner Steve Pagliuca in their championship locker room last June — with champagne, sweat and beer flying in every direction — when the man known as Pags said naming Stevens as the replacement to longtime general manager Danny Ainge was indeed Boston's "first thought."

"Brad is very similar to Danny," Pagliuca told me. "They're basketball lifers. They played basketball in college. They coached. They're very analytical. Brad just kind of impressed us just like Danny did, And we had a seamless transition."

Now the next Celtics changeover is underway, after Boston announced a record-setting agreement to sell the franchise to a group led by William Chisholm. And it's all happening just as Boston is courting an astronomical luxury tax bill for the 2025-26 season, which could take the Celtics' total payroll and tax obligations beyond the $500 million mark.