Celtics commit to Payton Pritchard — as a potential trade chip

Back in February, Pritchard was so frustrated by his lack of playing time in Boston, he said he'd welcome a trade somewhere else. Now he's signed a contract extension that keeps him in Celtics green through 2028. Probably.

Pritchard got $30M in his new deal — life-changing money for him, but modest by NBA standards. Boston will be paying Jaylen Brown over $50M next season (and over $300M over five years), while Jayson Tatum will likely sign an even bigger extension next summer. But the value of Pritchard's deal for Boston is that it's highly tradeable.

If the Celtics want to reshape their roster, it's hard to do that with large contracts. Besides their homegrown stars, Kristaps Porzingis makes roughly $30M per year and Jrue Holiday makes $36.9M this year. 

Pritchard not only provides Boston with an affordable bench option who is a career 40% shooter from three-point range, but a mid-sized contract that could be very useful to match salaries in a trade.

Even this year, the new deal doesn't complicate his usefulness as a trade chip very much. While Pritchard is making $4M this year, the extension means he'd be treated as a $6.8M player — something that might help in acquiring a more expensive player.

Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla, who didn't play Pritchard much last season, told reporters he's "happy" to have Pritchard back.

With Marcus Smart and Malcolm Brogdon gone, the Celtics will be able to use Pritchard off the bench. And if it doesn't work out, at least they'll be able to use him in a trade.