Payton’s place: Guard agrees to extension
Per reports, Pritchard deal for 4 years, $30 million
Not too long ago, Payton Pritchard wanted to be traded by the Celtics. Now the guard is part of the team’s long-term future.
Pritchard, who was entering the final year of his contract, agreed to a four-year, $30 million contract extension to remain in Boston, according to a report from ESPN on Sunday. The deal is reportedly fully guaranteed.
Pritchard and the Celtics had a deadline of Oct. 23 to come to terms on an extension.
The agreement also comes with the expectation Pritchard will have a significantly greater role with the Celtics, something that has never been guaranteed since he was drafted in the first round in 2020. It nearly came to a head last season, when the addition of Malcolm Brogdon cut his minutes in a crowded backcourt that also included Marcus Smart and Derrick White.
Pritchard stayed professional through a trying individual year, and seemed to always come through when his number was called. But he publicly expressed frustration about his situation, and wanted to get moved at the deadline. That never happened. But after the Celtics departed with Smart and Brogdon this offseason, there promises to be a bigger role for Pritchard this season behind White and Jrue Holiday.
“I’ll tell you what. Payton’s one of my favorite people,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said. “Most guys in his position, the league breaks them. Like when you go Year 1 playing a little bit, Year 2 not playing, Year 3 kind of playing and then like, the league can break you. He’s not one of those guys. He just continued to be a tough SOB for us and I’m happy that I get to coach him this year.”
Pritchard said the experience last season helped him mature and gain perspective, and he followed that with a big summer in which he was a member of the USA Basketball select team. He seems excited and motivated for this season. Several members
of the team have already pointed him out as one of the most impressive players so far in camp.
“I think Payton’s had a great camp,” Sam Hauser said. “He’s really, really been aggressive. He worked really hard this summer and I think he’s out for blood this year so I’m really excited to see what he has to bring to the table.”
Thoughts with Israel
Following his pregame press conference ahead of Sunday’s preseason opener, Mazzulla made a point to share some words and perspective about Israel in light of the ongoing conflict between the Israeli military and the militant Palestinian group Hamas. The coach said he has visited Israel twice over recent years
“There’s nothing more important than know
ing what people are going through,” Mazzulla said. “So what’s happening in Israel right now, there should be a lot of thoughts and prayers to those people. Being able to spend time there you don’t realize. There’s honestly a lot of stuff that goes on in our country. We’re not perfect, and there’s people that are hurt every day in our country. But when you look at the bigger picture when you spend time there, you see what people go through from minute to
hour basis. You don’t realize the struggle that other people go through. So it’s hard knowing things are gonna happen this year that I’ll get asked about, and no one has asked me about that. So, I think it’s important that we build awareness to that. …
“It doesn’t matter what you are, whether you’re a Muslim, whether you’re Jewish or Christian, Israeli or Palestinian. Like, they’re people and they go through a lot of dangerous times and situations. Like,
our country is 400 years old and they’ve been going through suffering for 10,000 years. You start to see the perspective of the world and it’s a really, really tough area to be. So I think we should all be aware of that.”
Scrubb tears ACL
The Celtics announced prior to Sunday’s game that Jay Scrubb — who signed a two-way contract this summer — tore his right ACL during Saturday’s prac
tice. It’s brutal news for the 23-year- old Scrubb, who had an impressive summer league and was looking to build on that this preseason before likely heading to Maine. …
The C’s started Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Derrick White, Kristaps Porzingis and Al Horford, with newly acquired Jrue Holiday coming off the bench in his C’s preseason debut. … Joel Embiid and James Harden were both inactive for the 76ers.