NBA

Illustration of Celtics guard Payton Pritchard in a green Boston jersey

Celtics Lock Up Payton Pritchard With 2-Year, $44.2M Extension

By The Sports Nus Staff | October 13, 2026

The Boston Celtics are keeping their guy. Guard Payton Pritchard has agreed to a two-year, $44.2 million contract extension with a mutual option for the 2029-30 season, per Shams Charania. CAA Co-Head of Basketball Austin Brown and agent Max Saidman told ESPN about the deal Tuesday afternoon.

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This one felt inevitable. Pritchard became extension-eligible on October 1, and the Celtics had until October 19 to get something done before he played out the season. The 28-year-old is on one of the biggest bargain contracts in the league right now, a four-year, $30 million deal he signed in 2023 before he broke out. He has spent the last two seasons making that contract look silly.

The numbers tell the story. Pritchard won Sixth Man of the Year, then followed it up with a career-high 17.0 points per game last season on 46.4 percent shooting while starting a career-high 50 games. He is the second-longest-tenured Celtic behind Jayson Tatum, and with Jaylen Brown traded to Philadelphia over the summer, Pritchard is expected to take on an even bigger offensive role this season alongside Tatum, Derrick White and Paul George.

At $22.1 million per year, this is a raise Pritchard earned and a number the Celtics can live with. He bet on himself by not rushing into a smaller extension earlier, and it paid off. Boston keeps a core piece of its backcourt locked in through the end of the decade, and Pritchard gets the bag before what should be the biggest season of his career.

Via: Shams Charania, ESPN