Payton Pritchard’s climb with the Celtics has come a long way from the frustration of asking out. Now, after a multi-year extension, he says he knows he’s on the track he was meant to be on.
The Boston guard entered the league as the 26th pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, but his early seasons were defined more by limited minutes than steady opportunity. He averaged 19.2 minutes per game as a rookie and 14.1 in his second season, then saw that number dip to 13.4 in 2022-23.
At that point, he asked to be traded. It never happened, and he stayed put.
What followed was the kind of turnaround players spend years chasing. Pritchard helped Boston win an NBA Championship the next season, when he logged 22.3 minutes per game and averaged 9.6 points.
Then came another step forward in 2024-25, when he captured Sixth Man of the Year. Last season, he pushed his game even higher, averaging 17.0 points and 32.4 minutes per game.
"It’s a long journey," Pritchard said via The Boston Globe. "It’s kind of been my whole basketball career, from high school, college. You go through so many ups and downs and just got to keep going every day and just try to get better and better.
"You just don’t know how far you can take it. I think it just shows that I think I’m on the right path."
That belief now comes with a contract to match it. Before the 2026-27 season, Pritchard signed a two-year, $44.2 million extension.
Boston has been busy around him, too. The Celtics traded Jaylen Brown to the 76ers for Paul George, while Mike Conley and Mitchell Robinson also joined the roster. Jayson Tatum, meanwhile, is working his way back after an injury and hopes to be 100% healthy.
As for Pritchard, the role matters less than the impact. He said he’s prepared to fit whether he starts or comes off the bench, and he’s clear about what drives him.
"How you impact the game is what really matters to me," Pritchard said. "It’s probably an ego thing, but I don’t really care to hear my name called at the beginning of the game.
"The first five minutes of the game really has no effect on the game, and if that’s what Joe (Mazzulla) thinks benefits the team the most is me coming off the bench and playing those minutes, then I’m going to try to do it and be the best in those minutes."
In Other News...
Celtics Already Have A Payton Pritchard Problem They Promised To Fix
After the offseason trade of Jaylen Brown and a contract extension for Payton Pritchard, the Celtics entered the season with a clear expectation that his role would grow. Instead, the opener offered a familiar look. Pritchard came off the bench and was on the floor for 27 minutes, but his place in the offense never really changed in a way that suggested a new level of responsibility.
He still managed to score 17 points, tied for second on the team, but the way he got there looked more like last season than the next step Boston seemed to be promising. With limited involvement in the half-court and only one assist to show for the night, the question is already less about whether Pritchard can produce and more about how the Celtics plan to use him moving forward. [Read more 🡒]
Kendrick Perkins Just Turned Up The Pressure On The Celtics
Boston looked sharp in its first game against Detroit, a reminder that even with offseason changes, the Celtics still project as one of the leagues upper-tier teams. But the early-season vibe around this group has been complicated by the usual Boston standard: good regular-season play is expected, and the conversation always drifts quickly to whether the roster is truly built for June.
Kendrick Perkins added to that pressure with a blunt assessment of where the Celtics stand right now. The former Boston center drew a hard line between being good and being a real title threat, pointing to the roster as part of the concern and putting the spotlight squarely on Jayson Tatum in the process. For a team that has spent years being measured against championship expectations, it is the kind of outside criticism that lingers until the Celtics prove otherwise. [Read more 🡒]
Celtics Already Have A Starting Lineup Debate After Opening Loss
The Celtics opened their season with a loss to the Pistons, and it didnt take long for the first lineup question to surface. Boston got useful bench minutes from Baylor Scheierman and Sam Hauser, two forwards who brought some pop to the offense after checking in, which only sharpened the conversation about how the rotation should be shaped going forward.
There is already a case to be made for one of those shooters moving into the starting five to help create more spacing early in games, especially if the Celtics want a cleaner offensive rhythm out of the gate. The tougher part is figuring out who comes out to make room, and that decision will say plenty about how Boston wants to balance defense, energy and shot-making in the games ahead. [Read more 🡒]