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Payton Pritchard’s season with the Boston Celtics hasn’t gone how he would have planned, as the third-year guard has seen his role seriously diminish since the arrival of Malcolm Brogdon in the summer.
Now, it would seem that Pritchard is sending a cryptic message to the Celtics front office, as one eagle-eyed fan noticed he recently liked (and then unliked) a tweet calling for him to be given a super-max contract and a starting role within the Celtics rotation.
“If it was up to me, I’d give @paytonpritch3 a super-max contract and 35 minutes a game for the next 15 years. A humble, genuine, hard-working, talented guy who gives his all every time he steps on the floor. A real #Celtics player,” Twitter user @philipoconnor wrote.
Unfortunately for Pritchard, he will likely never be eligible to qualify for a supermax deal, as he would first need to have completed eight years in the NBA for either the team that drafted him (Boston) or acquired him while on his rookie contract. Then, Pritchard would need to meet one of the following three criteria.
- Make an All-NBA team in the season before signing a super-max, or the previous two seasons before it.
- Or, make an All-NBA defensive team in the season before signing a supermax, or the previous two seasons before it.
- Or, win an MVP award in any of his previous three seasons.
Pritchard Implored to Find a New Team
According to a November 22 article by The Athletic’s John Hollinger, Pritchard should pursue a change of scenery at the earliest opportunity, as his current role on the Celtics is limiting his development.
“Pritchard is 25, shoots 41.2 percent career from 3, and has another year left beyond this one on a rookie contract that pays him peanuts. He’s valuable! He’s just less valuable to Boston right now than almost any other team. In his case, one out would seem to be as a trade chip to get Boston another big man. The Celtics have thus far survived the absence of Robert Williams III, with the help of some solid contributions from scrap-heap pickup Luke Kornet, but the injuries to Williams and Gallinari exposed what is perhaps the one weakness on a loaded Boston team,” Hollinger wrote.
Since the Celtics returned from the All-Star break, Pritchard has seen the floor for two out of the team’s five games, earning a total of 10 minutes 46 seconds of playing time, going scoreless, and pulling down just one rebound.
Pritchard Commits to Helping Celtics Win a Championship
After failing to secure a move away from the Celtics at the February 9 trade deadline, Pritchard addressed his immediate future with the team when speaking to the media following the Celtics’ February 12 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies.
“My minds already reset, and I’ve already been open about where I was at. And I’m here now. I’m a professional at the end of the day, I’m gonna work, and any minute I’m gonna play because I love to play basketball. This whole thing about what everybody’s been saying, you know, I love this city, I love this organization, I love my teammates, this is like one of the best…I’m here, and I do love it here, and I’m committed. I wanna help this team any way I can to win a championship,” Pritchard said.
However, it is likely that once the season is over it’s likely that Pritchard’s future with the team once again becomes a talking point among the fanbase and potentially inside of the front office.
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