Boston Celtics reserve sharpshooter Payton Pritchard fought through a rough season where he was buried in the Celtics’ rotation due to all of the backcourt depth the team had in 2022-23, but after an explosive offseason in terms of shaking up the storied ball club’s roster, plenty of playing time opened up.
And Boston elected to pay the Oregon alum well for his services and perhaps for his troubles the season prior, but did so on a contract that is still seen as team-friendly around the league, with Pritchard set to earn a cool $30 million over the next four seasons.
Among the analysts who were into the West Linn native’s new contract is Bleacher Report’s Eric Pincus, who gave the deal a “B+”.
Celtics Lab 225: On Boston looking good to start the season and what they can do to get better with Yossi Gozlan https://t.co/AKf0Pa3OF0 pic.twitter.com/2ILO3KHS72
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) October 28, 2023
“The Celtics snuck in the smallest deal of the summer with Pritchard, whose role projects to increase this season after the departures of Marcus Smart and Malcolm Brogdon (even with the addition of Jrue Holiday),” writes Pincus.
“For some players, the goal is to stick around. Like Nassir Little last year with the Portland Trail Blazers, Pritchard locked in real security at a viable number. The Celtics have a heavy payroll with limited flexibility, and his average salary ($47.5 million) is in the range of year’s (projected) smaller exceptions like the $8.1 million room mid-level exception (RMLE), $5.2 million taxpayer mid-level (TMLE) and the $4.7 million bi-annual exception (BAE).”
“Since Boston is likely to be over the NBA’s second apron (roughly $190.8 million), the team won’t have any of those exceptions, which makes paying Pritchard more of a necessity,” he adds.
The Boston Celtics will have as many as nine free agents in 2024 https://t.co/vS2vbAUDBB pic.twitter.com/WMNYAzo8Wd
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) October 28, 2023
“The Celtics could have waited, but it’s relatively low risk at that price. The 25-year-old locking in guaranteed money is a win,” adds the B/R cap expert.
“Still, since he’s committing to a discounted salary, he probably should have fought for a player option on the final season for the chance at an early exit and a more-rewarded third contract.”
Robert Parish on how fellow iconic Celtics big man Bill Russell prepared him to play in Boston https://t.co/0cdu9QzbNt pic.twitter.com/NXePz1Qoc3
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) October 28, 2023
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