Celtics ownership sale gets key timeline update
11/06/2024 01:27 PM
The Boston Celtics have been rolling to start the 2024-25 NBA season, as the team currently sits at 7-1 heading into Wednesday evening’s matchup with the Golden State Warriors. Outside of their championship victory, the biggest story of the offseason for the Celtics was the fact that owner Wyc Grousbeck would be selling the team at some point in the near future.
Now, more light is being shed on when exactly that might occur, and who the interested parties may be, per Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic.
“The efforts to sell the team kicked off last month. An online data room opened for potential investors, according to two sources briefed on the matter, after vetting by JP Morgan & Chase and BDT & MSD Partners, the two financial firms advising on the sale,” reported Vorkunov. “Stephen Pagliuca, who currently owns about 20 percent of the franchise, has already expressed interest and could be one of the front-runners to put a group together to purchase control. At this point, the sale is likely to be completed early next year, according to one person familiar with the process.”
Vorkunov also broke down how Grousbecks’ vision for selling the Celtics may conflict with the league’s hopes.
“Grousbeck said he wants to sell the team in steps, with the majority tranche sold by the winter of 2025, and then retain control until the rest is sold off in 2028,” he reported. “That may prove tricky, especially as NBA commissioner Adam Silver said earlier this year the league may choose to avoid stepped transactions after the current Minnesota Timberwolves saga gets settled.”
Meanwhile, on the court…
The Celtics have looked like an absolute juggernaut through two weeks, picking up right where they left off a season ago when they hoisted the Larry O’Brien trophy, only this time with a Jayson Tatum who is actually knocking down his outside jumpers and with Payton Pritchard looking like the early favorite for Sixth Man of the Year.
The Celtics have doubled down on their three-point heavy approach to the game, including launching over 60 such attempts in their opening night thrashing of the New York Knicks. And the team is doing all of this without arguably their third most talented player in Kristaps Porzingis, who is expected to return to the lineup at some point next month.
In any case, the Warriors and Celtics are slated to tip off at 7:30 PM ET from Boston on Wednesday.
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