Payton Pritchard Doesn’t Care Who Boston Celtics Start at Point Guard Between Him and Anfernee Simons

Payton Pritchard doesn’t care who the Boston Celtics start at point guard next NBA season between him and Anfernee Simons.

The Celtics traded Jrue Holiday to the Portland Trail Blazers for Simons on July 7.

“It doesn’t matter to me,” Pritchard told Noa Dalzell of CelticsBlog. “A lot of things can change in a year – you can start a couple of games, you cannot. For me, it’s about controlling what I can control – and that’s coming into games and changing the game, and being an unbelievable player and helping my team win. So that’s the only thing I’m focused on, ever. It’s not about accolades, it’s not about starting or anything like that. It’s about: how can I become the best player possible?”

Simons averaged 19.3 points, 2.7 rebounds, 4.8 assists, 0.9 steals and 0.1 blocks for the Trail Blazers last season in 70 games. He shot 42.6% from the field, 36.3% from beyond the arc and 90.2% from the free-throw line. 

The 26-year-old Simons has career averages of 15.0 points, 2.5 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 0.5 steals and 0.1 blocks in the NBA. He didn’t have an introductory press conference with the Celtics. 

Pritchard played in 80 games for the Celtics last season. He averaged 14.3 points, 3.8 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 0.9 steals and 0.2 blocks while shooting 47.2% overall, 40.7% from 3 and 84.5% from the foul line. The 27-year-old won the Sixth Man of the Year Award.

The Celtics drafted Pritchard with the 26th overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft. The Oregon native has career averages of 9.1 points, 2.7 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 0.5 steals and 0.1 blocks.

Boston lost to the New York Knicks in the second round of the 2025 playoffs in six games. Jayson Tatum tore his right Achilles tendon in Game 4 at Madison Square Garden and is expected to miss all of next season. 

Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens has been extremely busy this offseason. He traded Holiday to the Trail Blazers for Simons and Kristaps Porziņģis to the Atlanta Hawks for Georges Niang.

Stevens then traded Niang to the Utah Jazz for RJ Luis Jr. He also signed Chris Boucher, Luka Garza and Josh Minott.