Celtics’ Payton Pritchard Wants To Be Traded

Payton Pritchard would like to be traded by the Boston Celtics this summer, according to NBA insiders Jay King and Jared Weiss of The Athletic.

Pritchard had several DNPs in the regular season and playoffs.

“With the new onerous CBA rules looming after next season, the front office will likely have to decide in the next 12 months whether it can afford its expensive veteran depth,” King and Weiss wrote. “Payton Pritchard has made it clear he hopes to be traded this summer, according to multiple team sources, so will the Celtics move him if they trade one of their core guards?”

Pritchard appeared in 48 games during the regular season. He averaged 5.6 points, 1.8 rebounds and 1.3 assists while shooting 41.2% from the field, 36.4% from beyond the arc and 75.0% from the free-throw line.

The 25-year-old played in 10 postseason games, averaging 3.2 points. The Celtics lost to the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals in seven games after reaching the NBA Finals last year.

Boston drafted Pritchard with the 26th overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft out of Oregon. The guard has career averages of 6.6 points, 2.1 rebounds and 1.7 assists. Pritchard signed a four-year, $10.5 million rookie scale contract with Boston. He will make $4.0 million next season.

It will be interesting to see if the Celtics grant Pritchard’s wish. One thing is certain, though: Jayson Tatum believes head coach Joe Mazzulla didn’t get enough credit.

“I don’t think people give (Mazzulla) or us enough credit that, two days before (the) season starts, we find out we’re going to have a new coach,” Tatum said after Game 7. “We didn’t have Rob the first 25, 30 games of the season, we never got a chance to have (Danilo Gallinari), and we got a new coach one day before media day. You know, that was an adjustment. We all figured it out.

“Obviously, we wanted to win the championship. Didn’t happen. But I think Joe did a great job. We won 50-some-odd games. We got to (Game 7 of the) conference finals. Obviously, everybody can be better, learn from this. But I think Joe did a great job this year.”