Following the Malcolm Brogdon trade over the summer, MassLive’s Brian Robb made a claim that not every member of the Boston Celtics backcourt — one that includes Brogdon, Marcus Smart, Derrick White, and Payton Pritchard — was likely to be on the team by the 2022-23 season’s end.
Given the team’s dearth of big men on their depth chart following Robert Williams III’s arthroscopic knee surgery set to keep him out 8-12 weeks, the team’s overly loaded guard rotation could be used to correct Boston’s frontcourt issues.
A popular name brought up in such discussions, which often involved figuring out a way to move Danilo Gallinari’s dead money, is that of third-year guard Payton Pritchard, the final first-round pick of the Danny Ainge era.
According to Inside The Celtics’ Bobby Krivitsky believes Pritchard could actually force the issue himself and demand a trade should he not receive the requisite playing time from Boston Celtics interim head coach Joe Mazzulla:
"“Pritchard’s rookie contract is approaching its end. Boston can exercise a club option for slightly north of $4 million for the 2023-24 campaign, but after that, he’ll be a restricted free agent. A lack of playing time could lead to him requesting a trade.”"
Payton Pritchard is the key to the Boston Celtics moving Danilo Gallinari’s dead money
Whether or not Payton Pritchard is truly in the position just yet to be making trade requests is up for debate, but what isn’t is him being the key to the Boston Celtics being able to move off of Danilo Gallinari’s dead money.
Gallo is signed for not only this year but next as well, owning a player option for the 2023-24 season. Finding a contributor for this upcoming season is likely a higher priority than integrating Gallinari eventually.
For Boston, the best landing spot for Gallo’s deal would be a rebuilding team with cap space and no designs to use it on anything but salary dumps with the proper attachments. Pritchard plus draft capital could be the key to the Cs reeling in a needle-mover ahead of or during a crucial make-or-break season for the franchise.