Boston Celtics
“… I’m very grateful for the relationship I’ve had with JB, because he kind of took me under his wing, pushed me, made me better.”
Payton Pritchard could be due for a greater role on the Celtics in 2026-27. AP Photo/Matt Slocum
August 10, 2026 | 6:15 PM
3 minutes to read
For close to a decade, the Celtics had a seemingly sustainable roster in place when it came to contending in the Eastern Conference — due in large part to the assured production generated every night by the duo of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.
But with Brown now part of the 76ers, the Celtics are going to have to drastically augment their approach moving forward as a reworked team tries to hold onto its standing as a true force in the East.
Tatum should continue to dominate as Boston’s go-to, No. 1 option moving forward. But, Brown’s departure creates a vacuum where Joe Mazzulla will need to allocate additional minutes and responsibilities to other players on the Celtics’ roster.
One of the players due for a larger role in the post-Brown era is guard Payton Pritchard, who has emerged as Boston’s scoring sparkplug and key bench contributor over the last few seasons.
Speaking to NBC Sports Boston’s Chris Forsberg, Pritchard was asked about Boston’s decision to trade Brown to an Atlantic Division rival last month.
“I mean, it’s the NBA at the end of the day. It’s part of the business. Things change,” Pritchard said. “You lose close friendships, brotherhoods. We won the championship together, and I’m very grateful for the relationship I’ve had with JB, because he kind of took me under his wing, pushed me, made me better.
“And he’s just a phenomenal player, so he’ll be missed mightily. But at the same time, you have to turn the page and get ready for this next year and have a great year and go to war.”
Pritchard, who took home the Sixth Man of the Year Award in 2024-25 and averaged a career-high 17.0 points per game in 2025-26, could see his role expand moving forward — especially with Boston in desperate need of a secondary scoring option next to Tatum.
Fellow Celtics stalwart Derrick White would also seemingly stand as a viable scoring option, but the 32-year-old guard saw his shooting dip across the board last season — sinking 32 percent of his shots from 3-point range.
A sharpshooter like Pritchard should continue to thrive in Mazzulla’s 3-heavy system, with the 28-year-old guard boasting a .394 career shooting percentage from beyond the arc.
Even with the addition of Paul George and some valuable draft capital, the Celtics might take a step back in 2026-27 as they reset their roster moving forward.
But, Pritchard believes that Boston is no stranger to proving doubters wrong, as few expected the team would win 56 games in a 2025-26 season where Tatum was largely sidelined due to injury.
“I feel like we have another year that we have to prove it,” Pritchard told Forsberg. “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 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.”
Given his growing role on the Celtics, Pritchard could be due for a hefty pay raise in the coming years, especially after Boston signed him to a four-year, $30 million contract extension in October 2023 that has become one of the best bargain deals in the league.
Pritchard still has two more years left on that extension, but Boston could add an additional three years (at a higher payout) onto that existing agreement if both sides agreed to new terms in October.
Speaking to Forsberg, Pritchard said that contract talks haven’t been at the top of his offseason to-do list to this point.
“I don’t really think about it,” Pritchard said of an extension. “It’s not something I’m really looking at. I have two years on my contract. 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 focusing on getting better and becoming the best basketball player I can possibly be.”
If Pritchard is looking to really cash in after being under contract at below his market rate over the last few years, he could command a major deal if he goes to market as a free agent at 30 years old at the end of the 2027-28 season.
Conor Ryan is a staff writer covering the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots, and Red Sox for Boston.com, a role he has held since 2023.
Sign up for the Today newsletter
Get everything you need to know to start your day, delivered right to your inbox every morning.
