Celtics, Payton Pritchard Agree to 4-Year, $30M Contract Extension After Trade Rumors

The Boston Celtics agreed to a four-year, $30 million deal with point guard Payton Pritchard, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.

Jay King and Jared Weiss of The Athletic reported in June that Pritchard "made it clear he hopes to be traded this summer," and Weiss provided additional context shortly thereafter.

"There are plenty of teams out there that see him stepping into a backup point guard role and there was plenty of frustration both from his camp and the rest of the league when he didn't move at the deadline," he wrote of Pritchard.

It wasn't hard to see at the time why the 6'1" playmaker wanted out. He was eligible for restricted free agency in 2024, and he was staring at a stacked backcourt, one in which he was struggling to carve out a role.

Pritchard's 48 appearances and 13.4 minutes per game were both the lowest of his career, and he logged a total of 57 minutes in the postseason.

Then came an offseason that dramatically altered the Celtics roster and Pritchard's position within it.

Out went Marcus Smart in the trade for Kristaps Porziņģis, and then Malcolm Brogdon was included in the deal to land Jrue Holiday. That Pritchard stuck around through the transformation seemingly symbolized a strong endorsement from the team, and he became the No. 3 guard behind Holiday and Derrick White.

The 2020 first-round pick will always be limited somewhat by his size, and he's not an explosive athlete. Because of that, it's difficult to envision him making a major breakthrough, not unlike the one Jalen Brunson enjoyed in his final year with the Dallas Mavericks in 2021-22.

But Pritchard has shown enough to think he can become a very good backup point guard or spot starter.

Through his first three years, he averaged 15.1 points, 4.7 rebounds and 4.0 assists per 36 minutes, according to Basketball Reference. His jumper has steadily improved as well, to the point where he knocked down 40 percent of his long-range opportunities in 2022-23.

Because he's still somewhat unproven in a higher-usage role, one wondered whether Pritchard would wait until next summer before he seriously considered signing an extension.

Going back to the Brunson example, he could've signed for four years and $55.5 million if the Mavs had offered it, and instead he penned a four-year, $104 million deal with the New York Knicks months later.

It's doubtful that kind of payday would've been forthcoming for Pritchard under any circumstances, but he could easily outperform his new contract and come to regret not waiting.