Payton Pritchard and other Celtics back in Boston before training camp

The next NBA season isn’t far away. After a long offseason full of the Olympics, free agency, and other basketball happenings, there are less than two months until the regular season tips off. But training camp comes even sooner. And for the Boston Celtics, it will be here even sooner.

Since they will be playing the Denver Nuggets in a pair of games in Abu Dhabi, their training camp schedule kicks off on September 24, meaning they will be back in action within a month.

By then, all of the big names will be back in town. Fresh off their impressive summers, Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Jrue Holiday, Derrick White, Al Horford, and everyone else will be ready to help Boston compete for another title.

But just because training camp doesn’t start for a few weeks doesn’t mean some Celtics aren’t already getting revved up for the season.

Payton Pritchard and other Celtics are back in Boston ahead of training camp

The Celtics’ official Twitter and Instagram pages has been posting photos of Payton Pritchard and other players in the Auerbach Center—Boston’s practice facility. They’re already getting some work in despite the season being so far away.

Pritchard is an absolute workhorse. He’s one of the hardest-working players in the league, and after the best year of his career last season, he’ll be looking to make even more improvements.

JD Davison, on the other hand, will be fighting for his place in the league this year. The point guard will be on his third two-way contract heading into this season and will likely spend most of the season with the Maine Celtics in the G League.

As for Xavier Tillman, his role this season will be the most interesting of the bunch. With Kristaps Porzingis sidelined for the beginning of the season, the Celtics big man will get a chance to play more minutes.

The Celtics traded for Tillman at the deadline this past season, and while he didn’t play a ton of minutes, he came up big for Boston in the postseason (and especially in the NBA Finals).

Tillman re-signed with the Celtics this summer on a new contract, and he could be a potential Al Horford replacement once the veteran center decides to hang it up and retire.