There’s still plenty of offseason left, and anything could happen, but I have a feeling the Celtics are mostly done making moves this offseason. The Jaylen Brown trade was obviously the big move of the summer, with the Mitchell Robinson and Mike Conley signings and Chris Cenac Jr. and Dillon Mitchell draft picks rounding out the roster.
With PG waiving his trade kicker, the Celtics are within sniffing distance of the luxury tax line and could easily get below it by waiving Dalano Banton’s non-guaranteed deal or making other small moves before the trade deadline. That’s the most logical path at this point, and while they could look to use their $27.7 million trade exception and toe the line right up to the first-apron hard cap, it’s just hard to see a scenario that would be worth it.
Having that in mind, it may be time to look at what’s next for the Celtics, and the likeliest path is to lock up their own players. We’ve already seen it start with Neemais Queta and Ron Harper Jr. agreeing to extensions this offseason, and Brad Stevens hinted that a big part of the JB trade was creating the flexibility to keep their own guys.
Payton Pritchard up for 3/yr, $67.1m extension in October
The next man up? Payton Pritchard. Pritchard has broken out over the last couple of years, winning the Sixth Man of the Year Award and following it up with another great season last year. He’s ready for more and going to take on a bigger role this coming season, but he’s also due for an extension on October 1st.
Pritchard has two years left on his 4-year, $30 million rookie extension, which is one of the best bargains in the entire league. While his max extension would be a significant raise, it would still be a steal for the Celtics as they can offer him three years and $67.1 million in the fall.
That deal would start in the 2028-29 season and pay Pritch an average annual value of over $22 million a season. And the Celtics shouldn’t blink. For context, Jaylen Brown's player option for the 2028-29 season alone is $67.4 million. Is Pritchard JB? No. But can he offer a comparable impact for a fraction of the cost? Probably.
Teams that are winning the title in recent years are doing so, in large part, because of having their best players on scam contracts. This deal would take up about 9% of the cap going forward, and if Pritchard keeps improving, this would absolutely qualify and allow the Celtics to keep building up elite depth with the savings in value on Pritchard's contract compared to his production.
It’s a nice payday for Payton, but still a very team-friendly deal, and that’s without him even taking a leap. If Pritchard signs this deal and then shines in a bigger role, this will look like a huge discount to lock up the prime years of one of the team’s core players.
If Pritchard takes an All-Star leap this contract will be an NBA cheat code
I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself, but with all the talk about Pritchard being the next Jalen Brunson, it’s hard not to dream. I’m not saying he has that kind of jump in him, but with more minutes and usage, is it crazy to think he could average 20+ points and 7+ assists per game on high efficiency? I don’t think so at all. And if the Celtics are winning a lot with Payton as the second option on offense, there’s a real path to him being an All-Star.
Thinking he’ll become Brunson is too ambitious, but becoming a true complementary star next to Jayson Tatum is not. If the Celtics can make that happen, having a star player guaranteed for under 10% of the cap is the kind of cheat code that has led to championships in recent years. It’s no sure thing, but even if Pritchard stays where he is now, that’s a very reasonable deal for his current role.
There’s also a chance Payton turns this deal down and wants to play out his contract and hit free agency in the summer of 2028. But he’ll be 30 years old, and at just 6’1”, you never know what the market will dictate. For the chance to lock himself in until age 33 and get his future taken care of in a few months, hopefully, this is an easy choice for both sides, and this deal ends up being a lynchpin in building a roster to raise banner 19.
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