Last year was a good one for Celtics guard Payton Pritchard. In fact, if there is one thing especially notable about Pritchard over the course of his seven seasons in the NBA, it’s been that he has managed to get better each year, and that culminated with his performance in 2025-26, which saw him average career highs of 17.0 points, 5.2 assists and 4.0 rebounds.
Pritchard was thrust into a new spotlight last season with the absence of Jayson Tatum from the Celtics rotation for the first five months of the season. Pritchard took on a bigger part of the offense, and thrived in his new role. He is hoping to build on that this season by bumping up his efficiency–getting better shots and doing a better job drawing fouls and getting easy points at the free-throw line.
But he will be attempting to do that in an entirely new setting after one of the most stunning trades in recent Celtics history went down this summer.
Celtics’ Jaylen Brown Trade Will Impact Payton Pritchard
The trade, of course, is the one that saw the Celtics make a decision that combined the desire for more efficiency on the court with the need for better financial flexibility off it. That meant packaging Jaylen Brown to Philadelphia for two first-round picks and two seconds, along with veteran wing Paul George–who is on a max contract, too, but one that runs up in two seasons.
Despite losing Brown, the Celtics are still pegged to be the No. 2 team in the East, with an over/under win projection of 51.5. That level of expectation after losing a player like Brown will amp up the pressure on everyone involved–Tatum, certainly, but George, too, and even Pritchard.
Celtics Minicamp Already Rolling
To get the group functioning as a unit, Pritchard said a sort of Celtics minicamp is already underway in California, featuring some mainstays but also new guys George and Mike Conley.
In an interview with Bobby Manning of CLNS, Pritchard said, “Some guys are coming out now but at first it was me, Derrick White, PG, Mike, Sam (Hauser) and JT. It is good, it is good to hang out and be in the gym a little bit.”
Manning asked about Tatum’s condition after he returned to play despite being just nine months removed from tearing his Achilles tendon.
“He’s looking good,” he said. “He came back after nine months so I definitely expect him to be even stronger and more explosive and all that.”
Payton Pritchard ‘Worried About Becoming Better’
It’s difficult, even with Brown gone, to see Pritchard scoring much more than he did last year for the Celtics, as Boston wants to work its new guys into the lineup while also focusing more on Tatum and developing young players like Hugo Gonzalez.
Pritchard averaged 13.8 shot attempts last season. he’s likely to be in that range again, depending on his teammates’ health. If he can shoot more free throws (1.7 last year), he could increase his scoring.
Either way, Pritchard said he is just trying to get better and will do as his coaches ask: “I am just worried about becoming a better basketball player. Ultimately, that should hopefully lead to more success for our team and me individually. It’s really whatever the team needs and I try to focus on that stuff. Some of that stuff is out of my control, whatever the coaches decide and all that. But being the best basketball player possible, adding to my game, getting better and better, becoming more efficient will lead to more success.”
Celtics Payton Pritchard Reveals Team’s West Coast Minicamp