Celtics

Report: Celtics guard Payton Pritchard drawing interest on trade market

Published by
Peter Dewey

Boston Celtics guard Payton Pritchard reportedly is drawing interest on the trade market this season.

The former first-round pick has recently fallen out of Boston’s rotation with Marcus Smart, Derrick White and Malcolm Brogdon ahead of him. Boston has a plethora of capable ball-handlers, and Pritchard’s size makes him a bit of a defensive liability against bigger backcourts.

“Payton Pritchard is attracting some attention,” Heavy.com’s Steve Bulpett wrote.

 

“His minutes were expected to take a hit with the acquisition of Malcolm Brogdon, and it appears he’s been pushed out of the rotation entirely when the Celtics are at full point guard-capable strength.”

Even though Pritchard has seen his playing time reduced in Boston, other teams have considered pursuing the young guard, as he is still under contract this season and next season.

“Not surprisingly, Pritchard’s new situation has other teams sniffing around,” Bulpett wrote. “Clubs have been investigating whether he might be worth pursuing in a trade (he makes $2.2 million this year and $4.0 million next).”

Pritchard has played in just 21 games for the Celtics this season, making one start. He’s seen his minutes decrease to 10.5 per game after playing 19.2 minutes per game as a rookie and 14.1 minutes per game last season.

This season, Pritchard is averaging 4.4 points, 1.3 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game while shooting 40.0 percent from the field and 34.0 percent from beyond the arc. He could help a team that needs perimeter scoring, as the University of Oregon product has shot 40.5 percent from beyond the arc in his NBA career.

The Celtics drafted Pritchard with the No. 26 pick in the 2020 NBA Draft. He’s been able to provide them with a scoring spark off the bench at times, but the team has transitioned to much bigger lineups, headlined by bigger guards like Smart, Brogdon and White.

With Boston playing Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown big minutes on the wings, Pritchard would likely only see a role increase with the Celtics if a player was injured.

After making the NBA Finals last season, the Celtics are currently the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference in the 2022-23 campaign.

The team clearly believes that it can get back to the Finals, but it could use Pritchard as a trade chip to bring in a player that will be able to get minutes for the team this season. Boston could also look to move him to bring in future draft capital as well.

As the trade deadline nears, it will be interesting to see if there is a team in need of guard depth that makes a run at the Celtics guard.

Peter Dewey

Peter is a graduate of Quinnipiac University where he covered the MAAC and college basketball for three years. He has worked for NBC Sports, the Connecticut Sun and the Meriden Record-Journal covering basketball, football and other major sports. Follow him on Twitter @peterdewey2.

Published by
Peter Dewey

Recent Posts

Yankees part-owner disses LeBron then gets blasted by ex-NBA wing for maybe ‘dumbest tweet of 2024’

Folks will be hard-pressed to name any NBA players in the league right now who…

1 hour ago

Alex Caruso more than willing to sign extension with OKC Thunder: ‘Would be awesome’

Saturday marks the six-month anniversary of the trade that sent guard Alex Caruso from the…

20 hours ago

Draymond on whether NBA players ask him for LeBron’s phone number: ‘You can’t get ahold of Bron’

Some NBA players have seemingly turned to Golden State Warriors defensive ace Draymond Green for…

21 hours ago

Paul Pierce says LeBron, K.D. and Steph need to force others to take ASG seriously: ‘Kob was gon’ force you to play’

The NBA All-Star Game has drawn criticism in recent years for not being competitive enough.…

3 days ago

Magic Johnson says Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese are like him and Larry Bird: ‘We changed the NBA…they changed the WNBA’

Magic Johnson and Larry Bird formed maybe the most iconic rivalry between two players in…

3 days ago

Ex-Pelicans star implies New Orleans wasn’t a good city for Zion to land in: ‘We go to New Orleans when we wanna eat good’

Former New Orleans Pelicans big man DeMarcus Cousins shared his thoughts on Pelicans star Zion…

3 days ago