The rumor mill is starting to get pretty busy with the 2023 NBA Draft scheduled to take place Thursday in New York.
The Boston Celtics are a team to watch this week with several of their players involved in trade rumors. One player with an uncertain future in Boston is Payton Pritchard.
The 2020 first-round pick has seen his usage and scoring production decline in each of the last two seasons. After giving the Celtics some strong minutes in the 2022 playoffs — including 14 points in a Game 7 win over the Milwaukee Bucks — Pritchard was mostly a non-factor during the Celtics’ 2023 postseason run that ended in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals. The 25-year-old guard appeared in all 24 of the Celtics’ playoff games in 2022. He played in just 10 of Boston’s 20 postseason matchups in 2023.
What’s the latest on Pritchard’s situation?
The Boston Globe’s Adam Himmelsbach reported Monday that “the Celtics remain high on Pritchard, and there is no tension between him and the organization.”
Pritchard has not been afraid to speak publicly about his desire to have a larger role, whether that comes in Boston or somewhere else. He’s also been the subject of several trade rumors in recent weeks.
If the Celtics end up trading one of their top three point guards — Marcus Smart, Malcolm Brogdon or Derrick White — then it makes sense to keep Pritchard.
Pritchard can be a valuable player off the bench if he’s given a chance to earn consistent playing time. He has hit 40 percent of his 3-point shots in three seasons. That’s a pretty impressive rate. Pritchard isn’t a great defensive player, but he’ll give you full effort on that end of the floor. He also does a good job crashing the glass for a guy his size.
Another reason to hold on to Pritchard is his contract. His salary cap hit for next season — the final year of his rookie contract — is just $4,037,278. For a team like the Celtics that has dedicated a large amount of salary cap space to veteran players, having good young players under contract for cheap is essential to building a roster with enough depth to win in the playoffs.