Amid The Trade Deadline, Boston’s Payton Pritchard Opens Up About His Future Plans With The Team

Jayson Tatum and the Boston Celtics are the top dog in the NBA this season with a 36-15 record so far. Their defensive mindset along with the explosive offensive talent on the team are all way Boston are the favorites to win it all this season. The Celtics depth they have on the team also plays a huge factor into the teams success as well. One member of the Celtics recently opened up amid the trade deadline and gave his plans on where he thinks he’s going to be with the team or not moving forward. 

Third-year pro out of Oregon, Payton Pritchard has seen his role get smaller and smaller each season he’s been with the Celtics. He had his best season his rookie year in 2020-21 and has taken a step back each year. It’s not all his fault either as the team has added other guards who get more playing time then he does.

That’s why Pritchard recently opened up to the Celtics media and gave an honest answer of his future with Boston amid the trade deadline approaching. Massachusetts Sports Betting sites have the Celtics at (+400) to win the Finals this season.

Payton Pritchard wants a bigger role:

“Obviously after I’m done here, after this year, I’d like to look — be a part of a bigger role a little bit.” (Via @pointforward) pic.twitter.com/fcRNPAxYDU

— Boston Sports Gordo (@BOSSportsGordo) January 30, 2023

Payton Pritchard looking for a bigger role after this season

Additions of Derrick White near the trade deadline last season and Malcolm Brogdon in the offseason have significantly decreased Pritchard’s playing time. As a rookie in 2020-21 he played (19.2) minutes per game and this season he’s at (12.5). Another reason he’s likely seeing less playing time is because of his off three-point shooting so far. Both last year and the previous season he was above 41 percent from deep and has fell off to 33 percent in 2022-23.

So far this season he’s played in 35 of Boston’s51 games and has made two starts. He’s averaging (4.9) points, (1.6) rebounds, and (1.1) assists per game. Pritchard’s decreased role is why there’s been some talk of his name being on the trade market. On the Point Forward podcast with Andre Iguodala and Evan Turner, Pritchard opened up about what he see’s for himself in the future and with Boston.

“Obviously after I’m done here, after this year, I’d like to look — be a part of a bigger role a little bit,”… “t’s obviously what I work for. I think that’s what Brad (Stevens) and them know, too. We’ve had that discussion but — a bigger role. I want to be part of a winning culture but I want to also help that, be a really big piece of that.” – Payton Pritchard

He went on to say that he doesn’t know what the future holds for him as he hasn’t taken the next step as a player yet. If he can get his three-point shooting back to where he was in his rookie and sophomore seasons, Pritchard could be a role player in this league for years to come. No team can ever have enough three-point shooting.