Celtics' latest Payton Pritchard intel will be music to Boston's ears

Payton Pritchard becomes eligible to sign a contract extension on Oct. 1. When that date arrives, he can tack on three years and $67.1 million to his current arrangement.

After the 2026-27 campaign, the 28-year-old guard has one year and $8.3 million left on one of the most team-friendly deals in the NBA.

At the time, rather than waiting to see what was on the open market, he prioritized peace of mind. He signed a four-year, $30 million pact. Armed with that security, he ascended into the Sixth Man of the Year and a player who helped the Celtics raise Banner 18.

His career trajectory since breaking into Boston's rotation has made hammering out an extension with him the next important item of business that the franchise intends to take care of.

"That's probably next up. We've more or less done our offseason moves. Maybe something comes up that isn't out there now, but we're filling out the roster now vs. doing anything big," a Celtics front office executive told Keith Smith of Spotrac. "Payton is an important player for us. On those nights when we need a little juice, he's already there. And he's proven he can play a big role on a title team. We have to manage the cap and tax, but keeping Payton around is something we hope to do."

Payton Pritchard's poised to return to the Celtics' starting lineup

As previously detailed, the six-year veteran isn't just in line for a contract extension. He also figures to rejoin Boston's first unit.

The former Oregon Duck was a fixture there until shortly before Jayson Tatum made his season debut in early March. To his credit, he excelled in both roles.

When he came off the bench, there were even more opportunities for him offensively. However, before transitioning back to being the Celtics' sixth man, he demonstrated the impact he can have while sharing the floor with the rest of the team's top options.

And when he was playing alongside Tatum, they generated 46.1 points in 18.5 minutes last season. They registered a +7.3 plus-minus rating, per NBA.com. That tandem had a 123.2 offensive rating. They produced that while holding opponents to 104.7 points per 100 possessions, giving them an 18.5 net rating, per that same database.

Pritchard and Tatum can be a lethal pick-and-roll combination. Overhelping to keep the former out of the paint means conceding valuable space to Boston's best player. Not doing so makes it much harder to keep the relentless guard from attacking downhill. That will typically yield points around the basket or force the defense into a rotation, which leads to a clean look from beyond the arc for a teammate.

Payton Pritchard belongs in the Celtics' starting lineup

It's not just how well he pairs with Tatum. The former Sixth Man of the Year gives Boston more speed and another threat to produce points in the paint -- even without coming off a screen from their star forward.

Pritchard averaged 5.9 points in the paint per contest last season. He also registered the third-most isolation points per possession among those who appeared in at least 60 games and attempted at least one such shot per matchup, per NBA.com. 

Between that and his boasting the fourth-best assist-to-turnover ratio across the Association in the 2025-26 campaign, it's easy to see why the Celtics believe he can take a significant leap if they empower him more.

Given what a dynamic scorer Pritchard is, it's certainly worth seeing if that hypothesis bears out.

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