NBA general managers may have landed on Payton Pritchard for a reason.
NBA.com’s annual survey asked 48 questions, with GMs barred from voting for their own team or personnel, and one of them was simple: which player is most likely to have a breakout season in 2026-27? Pritchard made the cut, and the case for him is easy to see.
Boston’s roster changes should open the door wider. With Jaylen Brown gone, Pritchard is set up for more chances with the ball in his hands, and that matters for a guard who already carried the third-highest usage rate on the Celtics in last postseason’s action. More touches should mean more control, and more control should mean more production.
The other piece is what he does with those touches. Last season’s jump came mostly from scoring, but the next step may be as a creator.
That was on display in Boston’s 114-93 preseason win over the Charlotte Hornets, when Pritchard finished with 11 assists and kept finding open teammates once the defense crowded him in the paint. The result was a steady stream of pick-your-poison choices for the Hornets.
That expanded role could also push Pritchard past another scoring milestone. Jordan Walsh appears likely to start for Boston to begin the 2026-27 season, though the lineup is expected to stay fluid. Whether the 2024-25 Sixth Man of the Year starts or comes off the bench, there’s a real chance he ends up as the Celtics’ second-leading scorer.
He averaged 17.0 points per game last season, third on the team, and the path to 20 points is there. Pritchard has the quickness, handle and balance to keep getting downhill, and the more often he gets into the paint, the more chances he has to earn trips to the line. He’s a 90 percent free-throw shooter for his career, even though he’s taking fewer than 1.0 attempts per game.
Playing more alongside Jayson Tatum could also boost the scoring numbers. The two combined for 46.1 points in 18.5 minutes together last season, and Boston posted a 123.2 offensive rating with that tandem on the floor.
Defenses are put in a rough spot either way. If they help off Tatum, Pritchard can punish them.
If they stay attached to Tatum, Pritchard has the kind of burst and handle that can beat a defender without a screen. He scored the third-most isolation points per possession last year, per NBA.com, among players with at least 60 games and an average of at least one such field-goal attempt.
There’s also the catch-and-shoot threat. Pritchard’s range stretches deep, and if he’s the release valve in a Tatum pick-and-roll, opponents have to choose between giving up a clean 3 or surrendering the lane.
The playmaking side may be the most interesting development. In his sixth season, the six-foot-one guard averaged 5.2 assists per game, and he wants to have a bigger impact as a passer this year. He’s been improving there for a while, but this feels less like a major reinvention and more like another tool finally getting regular use.
Against Charlotte, that showed up in the way his paint touches pulled extra attention and created openings for others. He moved the ball quickly on the perimeter and made the right unselfish reads, including one sequence where he passed up an open 3 to swing it to Baylor Scheierman in the corner. With Moussa Diabate closing from behind and Brandon Miller rotating toward him, he turned a decent look into a better one.
If Pritchard keeps making those kinds of decisions, his teammates will benefit most. And that fuller version of him is exactly why he belongs on the league’s breakout list.
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Celtics May Have Found A Rotation Wrinkle Teams Wont Love
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Payton Pritchard's New Celtics Deal Is Already Sparking One Debate
Payton Pritchards new deal gives the Celtics some clarity in the backcourt, but it also comes with a familiar Boston front-office conversation about value. The guard signed a two-year extension worth $44 million after posting career-high averages last season, and he is slated to play a significant role when the Celtics get back to work. For a team that has spent plenty of time sorting out its long-term financial picture, locking in a young rotation piece was always going to draw more than one reaction.
Payton Pritchards stock has risen enough that not everyone around the league sees the extension as the cleanest possible win for Boston. Some front office personnel have mixed feelings about the price tag and believe there may have been room for a better negotiated outcome, including the possibility of a trade kicker. The debate is less about whether Pritchard belongs in the Celtics plans and more about whether the team moved quickly to secure him before the market could have pushed the deal in a different direction. [Read more 🡒]