Things have slowed down significantly around the Celtics, but here are a few thoughts on some newsy items which have popped up this week.
- Wyc Grousbeck discusses the sale of the Celtics on CNBC:
“The plan, the expectation, is to sell the team in two parts: 51% going fairly soon, 49% then closing in a second closing, that's the expectation, in 2028. I'm planning, or expected to, stay on until ‘28 and we're going to hire bankers and advisors, and this is going to be quite a bidding process.”
Karalis’ analysis: This doesn’t change my thought that there's a plan in place and the 51% of the team will go to a group of current owners.
Boston Basketball Partners, LLC owns the Celtics. Within that group are shareholders, and the Grousbeck family owns a majority stake.
A separate business owned by members of Boston Basketball Partners LLC can be created, let’s just call it Steve Pagliuca’s group, LLC, to buy 51% of the team from the Grousbecks. The remaining 49% of Boston Basketball Partners, LLC, owned by many of the same people, can be sold to the highest bidder, with the sale of that stake helping to finance the 51% purchase.
Again, I’m leaning on two things that haven't changed, even with the new information. There seems to be a plan to sell the team very quickly, which screams there is a plan in place. Then there is a four-year gap to sell the remainder, which is closer to what I’d expect the sale process of such an asset to look like.
As always, when a franchise like the Celtics goes up for sale, even if there's a plan in place, there's going to major interest from some of the richest people in the world. I’m not going to rule out a Godfather offer from an outside entity, but there aren’t many of those offers just lying around. There are only a handful of people able to swoop in like that, but given that the Celtics don’t own their building and their ability to make money outside of basketball games is limited, those guys might not exactly be as willing to make that leap as they would be for the Clippers and Warriors.
My assessment of how this will go hasn’t changed. We’ll see how this plays out.
- Austin Ainge says guys took less money to come back to Boston:
“We had some guys turn down more money other places to come back, and just feels really good to (have) guys that we care about a lot to come back and try to go for another run.”
Karalis’ analysis: I’m not sure who could have gotten more money elsewhere in the crop of returning Celtics. Obviously not Jayson Tatum or Derrick White, though White could have got to free agency next year and potentially made more either in Boston or somewhere else. That can be spun into applying to Ainge’s quote.
I’m guessing it’s probably more Luke Kornet or Xavier Tillman, who probably could have gotten a little more somewhere else. If it was, then we can be pretty thankful that they came back on smaller deals.
Continuity is Boston’s friend next season. Bringing in new guys in key roles, even if they are the eighth or ninth guys off the bench, would just slow down the process and add unknowns to the locker room. With 13 of the 14 guys under contract (not counting two-ways) holdovers from last season, there's a plug-and-play element to this team that will come in handy after a short offseason.
- Ainge on JD Davison, who is signing a third two-way deal with the Celtics:
“JD came out very young in draft and the last two years in Maine, he's really, really improved. We love his trajectory and I think he still has room to grow. He's younger than the guys we just drafted and a lot of other guys that were drafted, and I think he still has some growth. And so we're very optimistic.”
Karalis’ analysis: I’m surprised Davison came back, but happy for him. I think this is more a testament to the improved salary structure of two-way contracts as compared to when they first were introduced to the NBA.
Davison will make nearly $600,000 on the two-way deal this upcoming season. That's not millions of dollars, but it’s enough to live a nice life. That's almost $50,000 a month to keep chasing the NBA dream. It makes sense to keep going with that for another season.
I’d be singing a different tune if he was just on a standard G League deal. At that point I’d say he should try going overseas. But for now, sticking around makes sense. And if he can grow into a player who can slide into Jrue Holiday’s spot a couple of seasons from now, then great. If not, then the Celtics can look elsewhere.
- Second-round pick Anton Watson on how he sees his role in the NBA:
“Shooting is obviously a big piece, kind of like that Al Horford role. He’s a great shooter. I think learning from him is going to be huge for me … and just my defense, using that to my strengths, coming out and guarding every single game. That's going to be big for me.”
Karalis’ analysis: The Celtics are auditioning Horford successors over the next year or so. Tillman will get a crack at filling some of the void that will eventually be there. Watson will get a look, too. No one will be able to do everything Horford does, but the key is finding someone on a cheap deal who can do a good percentage of it.
Watson, the 54th overall pick, will have to shoot with confidence. If Joe Mazzulla can instill some level of the confidence he instilled in Derrick White, then the Celtics might be in business.