Payton Pritchard Not “Really Looking” At Extension

Celtics guard Payton Pritchard is eligible for an extension but he’s in no rush to sign one. Pritchard made that comment to Chris Forsberg on the Celtics Talk Podcast, as relayed by NBCSportsBoston.com’s Michael Hurley.

“No, I don’t really think about it. It’s just not something I’m really looking at,” Pritchard said. “I have two years on my contract and it’s just, there’s no rush on it. We’ll talk, obviously, but we have a whole next year to talk about an extension. For me, it’s like, just focus on getting better and becoming the best basketball player I can possibly be.”

Pritchard is entering the third year of a four-year, $30MM contract. The Celtics can offer him up to 140% of the NBA’s estimated average salary with 8% raises over the course of the extension. A three-year deal would max out at approximately $67MM.

Considering Pritchard’s contributions have exploded since he signed his current deal, he might be wise to wait until he becomes a free agent two summers from now. He averaged 14.3 points, 3.8 rebounds and 3.5 assists in 2024/25 and bumped that up to 17 points, 3.9 rebounds and 5.2 assists last season. He’s also established himself as one of the league’s most prolific 3-point threats (39.4% for his career).

As for the upcoming season, Pritchard said the team has much to prove after falling in the first round of the playoffs to Philadelphia and the offseason deal that sent All-Star Jaylen Brown to the Sixers.

“I feel the same way. I feel like we have another year that we have to prove it,” Pritchard said. “I thought regular season we did a great job last year. … But obviously in the playoffs, we didn’t have the playoff run we wanted, let a 3-1 lead slip, which, you know, [ate] away at at a lot of us this summer. So, added extra motivation going into the summer to attack it and come back better and just try to improve.”