The Boston Celtics signed Payton Pritchard to a two-year, $44.2 million contract extension, according to ESPN's Shams Charania, and fans should be ecstatic.
This is a solid, team-friendly deal. Pritchard is probably in line for the biggest role of his career (the Celtics will need him to have the ball in his hands a lot more to be a bigger shot creator without Jaylen Brown), and it's good for them to lock him up before his value potentially skyrockets. And because this contract doesn't kick in until the 2028-29 season (when Pritchard will be 30-31 years old), Boston is pretty much guaranteed to have him throughout the rest of his prime.
Signing the Oregon native to a new contract was a slam dunk for the Celtics on its own, but it especially is now, given the value. Fans should be happy that this was resolved before the start of the season, and now, Pritchard will look to keep doing what he's doing and help the Celtics win some games.
Payton Pritchard is about to become even more important to the Celtics
Pritchard has already proven to be an important part of Boston's success. He was a good backup during the team's championship run in 2024. He won the Sixth Man of the Year award in 2025. And he is fresh off a career year (17 PPG, 3.9 RPG, 5.2 APG, 46.4/37.7/89% shooting splits) and played a big role in the Celtics securing a surprising No. 2 seed last season.
But he's going to need to turn it up another level. Brown is gone. Paul George has his injury and age concerns. Derrick White struggled greatly shooting the ball last season (39.4/32.7/90.2% shooting splits and pretty much disappeared in the playoffs). And Jayson Tatum can't do it all on his own.
Pritchard is a fantastic shot-creator, and he's already shown that he can step up when the Celtics need him to (particularly last season, when he started a career-high 50 games). He's going to have the ball in his hands a lot more this season, and I think he'll be able to deliver.
We'll see if Boston ends up starting Pritchard or not. I think it should because 1) this gives him the best opportunity to directly take pressure off of Tatum, George, and White, 2) he's earned a full-time starting role, 3) this would give the rest of the bench a chance to level up, and 4) I also really like Devin Carter and am hopeful he can carve out a role in Boston; starting Pritchard opens up a backup role for him.
Either way, even if the Celtics keep the 28-year-old in his bench role, everything is going to be fine. He's great in this role, and I'm going to put my trust in Joe Mazzulla that he'll make the right call. Pritchard has been awesome for the Celtics in recent years, and I'm glad that he's going to stick around for a little while longer. And if you're a Celtics fan, you should be, too.
Add us as a preferred source on Google