Payton Pritchard reaches 4-year, $30 million extension with Celtics
Pritchard is entering his fourth season in the league this fall
Payton Pritchard has reached a new, long-term deal with the Boston Celtics.
The Celtics and Pritchard agreed to a four-year, $30 million, fully guaranteed contract extension Sunday, his agents told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
The Celtics first took Pritchard out of Oregon with the No. 26 pick in the 2020 NBA Draft. He is the seventh player from that draft class to sign a rookie-scale contract extension ahead of the deadline later this month.
Pritchard is coming off his least productive year in the league last season, and he was the subject of trade rumors this past offseason. He reportedly “made it clear” to the organization that he wanted to be moved earlier this summer, but that never happened. Pritchard averaged just 5.6 points and 1.3 assists while playing only 13.4 minutes per game off the bench last season, all of which are career lows. He averaged 6.6 points, 2.1 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game through his three seasons in the league.
He also became just the second player in league history to drop a triple-double with nine 3-pointers in a game last season. James Harden is the only other player to accomplish that feat.
Pritchard’s new deal was made with the expectation that he will have an expanded role off the bench with the franchise this season, according to Wojnarowski. It’s unclear what that role will look like exactly.
The Celtics went 57-25 last season and reached the Eastern Conference finals for the second straight year, though they were knocked out by the Miami Heat. The Celtics will open their season against the New York Knicks on Oct. 25.
