The Boston Celtics agreed to a two-year, $44.2 million extension with guard Payton Pritchard on Tuesday, according to a report by ESPN‘s Shams Charania.
Pritchard’s new money does not begin until 2028-29, which leaves the Celtics’ 2026-27 tax position exactly where it stood this morning.
The deal also includes a mutual option for 2029-30, with Pritchard’s agents Austin Brown and Max Saidman relaying the terms to Charania. Pritchard became eligible to sign on Oct. 1, and Boston could have offered as much as three years and roughly $69 million, according to NESN.
Because Pritchard has been so underpaid, the league’s estimated average salary, not his own, set the ceiling on that first-year figure. The agreed terms average about $22.1 million a year, a notch under the $23 million annual average the three-year maximum would have produced.
“A little surprised an extension happened now vs next offseason,” Spotrac cap analyst Keith Smith wrote on social media. Smith added that Pritchard “should return positive value on that contract without any doubt.” He cited the roughly $22 million annual average as evidence of how Boston views Pritchard’s place in the rotation.
Pritchard’s Career Path Leads to Celtics Extension
Payton Michael Pritchard was born Jan. 28, 1998, in Tualatin, Oregon, and won four consecutive state championships at West Linn High School, according to RotoWire. He briefly committed to Oklahoma, where his father Terry played football, before choosing Oregon.
Pritchard started nearly every game for the Ducks. He averaged 20.5 points, 5.5 assists and 4.3 rebounds as a senior, earning Pac-12 Player of the Year, consensus first-team All-American honors and the Bob Cousy Award.
Boston drafted him 26th overall in 2020, and he has never played for another NBA team. He reached the 2022 NBA Finals, won the 2024 championship and took home 2025 Sixth Man of the Year honors. His career averages stand at 10.6 points, 3.0 assists and 3.0 rebounds with 39.4 percent shooting from three, according to NBA.com stats.
Last season he posted career highs of 17.0 points, 5.2 assists and 3.9 rebounds across 79 games, 50 of them starts. He also hit 37.7 percent of his three-point attempts on 7.1 tries per game, NESN reported.
Boston Celtics Payroll and Payton Pritchard’s Role in 2026-27
Pritchard earns $7,767,857 this season and $8,303,571 in 2027-28, NESN reported, so the extension does not touch the current payroll. The Celtics sit at roughly $198.72 million in tax payroll, according to Spotrac‘s luxury tax tracker.
That figure puts Boston over the $164.961 million salary cap but about $1.71 million below the $200.428 million luxury tax line. The Celtics also stand roughly $10.29 million beneath the $209.015 million first apron and nearly $23 million under the $221.686 million second apron. No tax bill is projected.
The roster around Pritchard looks different this season. The Celtics traded Jaylen Brown to the Philadelphia 76ers and defended the move as a basketball decision, according to Sports Business Journal‘s reporting. Boston added Paul George from the Sixers in the trade, and Jayson Tatum returns.
Pritchard slots into a rotation built around Tatum, George and Derrick White. He started 50 games last season while injuries reshaped the lineup, working as a primary ball handler and scorer. The extension also erases his path to unrestricted free agency in the 2028 offseason.
Celtics Give Payton Pritchard Big News 1 Week Before Season Opener