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For most of the last two years, Payton Pritchard’s contract has been one of the easiest things on the Celtics’ books to celebrate.
A four-year, $30 million deal signed in October 2023 for a guard who can shoot, handle the ball, push pace, scrap in the paint, bomb away from the logo and swing games by himself? Yes, please and thank you. No further questions. Please put that receipt in a frame and hang it next to the 2024 banner.
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That version of the conversation was fun while it lasted. Sadly for us, though certainly not for PP himself, it’s about to change.
Pritchard is no longer a plucky underdog value story. He isn’t the scrappy bench guard who outperformed expectations and turned into one of Brad Stevens’ better pieces of business. Well, in a way he’s still all of that, sure, but as we’re about to find out, he’s become so much more. After his last couple of seasons, Pritchard has become one of Boston’s more interesting offseason variables.
That’s what happens when a bargain starts playing like something much closer to a pillar.
The contract is still absurd. The role is anything but.
The Celtics are set to pay Pritchard $7.8 million next season. In the NBA’s current financial climate, that number feels like it was discovered in a couch cushion. Boston will owe Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Derrick White roughly $145 million combined next season, while no other player on the roster is currently set to make more than $11 million. Pritchard living in that range while producing the way he did is laughably amazing for Boston. It’s one of the reasons the Celtics stayed afloat, and then some, during a season that could have gone sideways fast.
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But that’s also where this gets complicated.
Pritchard feels like he’s become more than a “nice to have” player. The Celtics leaned on him too much, and he delivered too often, for him to be treated like a budget-friendly depth piece.
He gave Boston real creation when the offense needed it. He played with pace when the game started to bog down. He punished defenses that lost him. He became more than just a catch-and-shoot…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/celticsblog-exit-interview-payton-pritchard-101000222.html
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Publish date : 2026-05-20 10:10:00
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