Payton Pritchard has agreed on a four-year, $30 million extension with the Boston Celtics, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported on Sunday morning.
Pritchard was drafted in the first round (26th overall) by the Celtics in 2020. He was born in Tualatin and attended West Linn High School, leading the Lions to state championships in 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016 with coach Eric Viuhkola. He was named Oregon Gatorade Player of the Year and was voted as the Player of the Year by the coaches in 2016.
Pritchard attended Oregon for college, and was the 2020 Pac-12 Player of the Year and a first team All-American. His senior year with the Ducks, Pritchard averaged 20.5 points, 5.5 assists and 4.3 rebounds per game.
In three seasons with the Celtics, Pritchard has mostly come off the bench. He’s played in 185 games and started only nine, averaging 15.7 minutes per game. The 2022-23 season saw Pritchard post career lows in minutes (13.4 per game) as well as points (5.6), assists (1.3) and rebounds (1.8).
According to ESPN, Pritchard’s contract extension is tied to the expectation that he will play a bigger role with the Celtics in the future. This is mainly due to the departure of Marcus Smart to Memphis in June.
