Celtics players expressed the hope majority owner Wyc Grousbeck (right) would select a prospective buyer -- such as Steve Pagliuca (left) -- with the familiarity of the team's championship culture.
Celtics players expressed the hope majority owner Wyc Grousbeck (right) would select a prospective buyer -- such as Steve Pagliuca (left) -- with the familiarity of the team's championship culture.Danielle Parhizkaran/Globe Staff
The bidding process to purchase the Celtics has reached the final stages, with the Grousbeck family recently receiving offers from the four finalists. The group includes Celtics co-owner Steve Pagliuca, Philadelphia Phillies co-owner Stan Middleman, Symphony Technology Group managing partner William Chisholm, and The Friedkin Group.
The Celtics have mostly been isolated from the process. But All-Star forward Jayson Tatum, for one, is hoping the new ownership group is able to maintain organizational stability.
“I look forward to whoever it is,” Tatum said. “I trust [lead governor Wyc Grousbeck] and those guys in their decision. And understanding the culture that we’ve set and we have, and sustaining that and trying to make it better.
“We’ve got some great people in this organization and on this team and we’ve worked really hard to build something special. I trust that they’ll make the right decisions in whoever that next group is.”
All-Star forward Jaylen Brown expressed a similar sentiment last month. He said he hopes the new owners will rely on the team and front office that, in addition to winning an NBA title last season, has built one of the NBA’s model franchises.
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Tatum and Brown both missed Tuesday’s game against the Nets. They were officially listed as out due to knee soreness, but it was essentially a rest day for Boston’s two All-Stars.
For the Nets, Nicolas Claxton and Noah Clowney returned after sitting out Saturday’s game against the Celtics in Brooklyn.
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The absences of Tatum and Brown certainly made life a bit easier for Nets coach Jordi Fernandez. In Saturday’s loss, Brooklyn often sent double teams in Tatum’s direction, but he is quite comfortable making decisions in these situations. Fernandez acknowledged that Tatum creates unique challenges for opposing defenses.
“Yeah, I don’t know how to guard him,” Fernandez said, smiling. “He’s too good. I just try different things and if one thing works then I try to stay with it and try to have a feel for it. I think our guys have done a good job to try to do whatever the adjustment on the defense is to do it as hard as they can, but do it together, because it’s not just one guy guarding him.”
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Kristaps Porzingis returned Saturday after an eight game absence due to an illness and remained in the starting lineup Tuesday. But he has appeared in just 34 of 69 games this year, and fellow big man Al Horford has played in 53.
Their absences have allowed coach Joe Mazzulla to experiment with more combinations, particularly double-big lineups that also include centers Luke Kornet and Neemias Queta. Mazzulla believes the familiarity these groups have gained will be beneficial moving forward.
“We’re just more flexible,” Mazzulla said. “It’s not necessarily a preparation standpoint, it’s a flexibility thing we’re able to do because of some of the situations we’ve been in this season. We’ve been able to go to a ton of different stuff. We didn’t go to a ton of Luke/KP minutes last year. We got those this year for different reasons…We’re more flexible.”
Adam Himmelsbach can be reached at adam.himmelsbach@globe.com. Follow him @adamhimmelsbach.