Celtics react to uncertain future due to pending sale of team

BOSTON — While the Celtics were busy celebrating their NBA title over the summer, they got a surprise from the ownership side. The C’s majority ownership group announced that the team is for sale, meaning things will change for the team going forward.

In the short term, things are looking great. The Celtics are the defending champions and they bring back a loaded roster with a real chance to pull it off. But the team will soon have a new ownership group leading the way, which means an uncertain future. But at this point, Boston president Brad Stevens didn’t have much to say about the team’s future.

“There’s not a lot that we’re doing,” Stevens said. “It’s out of our hands. Like I said before, I’m super grateful to Wyc (Grousbeck) and Irv and his family for everything they’ve done for us throughout this tenure and our great group of investors that we have. We’ve had really good leadership around here and they’ve basically said, ‘Hey, obviously, we’ve put a team together. This has been a long-term plan to be where we are now.’”

Realistically, there will be changes coming with whoever buys the team. There have been reports of potentially interested bidders. The initial timeline also expected a sale to be completed sometime during the upcoming 2024-25 season. But from the team’s perspective, that shouldn’t interfere too much with the Celtics’ renewed pursuit of Banner No. 19.

The Celtics will also have roster changes in the coming seasons. They currently have most of their core team signed beyond this year, but that also means a steep and historic luxury tax bill. So the front office will likely have to make changes in the future, regardless of ownership status. Although, regardless, an owner willing to spend is always a welcome sign for fans.

“I’ve been honored to build relationships with the ownership group that we have, and it’s been a partnership that we’ve worked on and off the court to continually lead to the championship that we just achieved,” said Jaylen Brown, the longest-tenured Celtic. “Obviously, with this change in ownership, there’s going to be some learning and growth that we need to get used to. But I expect it to be a smooth transition. That’s what we’re all hoping for, but we’ll just have to wait and see.”

It’s not often that a team like the Celtics is up for sale, so there should be plenty of interest. The league will likely monitor the process closely after it has gotten complicated with other sales, namely the Timberwolves recently.

But Tuesday’s media day was all about the current roster and what it will take to win it all again. The Celtics have a busy training camp and preseason coming up, including a trip to Abu Dhabi next week for a pair of exhibition games against the Nuggets. So while there is uncertainty, the Celtics are moving forward with what they can control.

“The money side of it and him selling, that’s kind of him,” Jrue Holiday said. “That’s his situation. I think for me, I try to control what I can control and that’s coming out here every day trying to achieve that ultimate goal, which is to win another championship. So, I think good luck to Wyc. I don’t know what to really say to him. But I think for the most part, we try to come out here every day and take care of business and we’ll try to continue to do that.”