Whenever his number is called, whether it be during the regular season or postseason, Payton Pritchard has served as a spark plug off the bench and come up big for the Boston Celtics.
The reigning NBA Sixth Man of the Year could soon see his playing time increase in an elevated role as one of the Celtics’ five starters during the 2025-26 campaign, according to FastbreakJournal.com’s Grant Afseth.
“The Celtics believe Pritchard has earned the starting job through years of steady development. His familiarity with the system and readiness to handle expanded responsibilities have made him the preferred option to open games at point guard,” Afseth wrote.
“The anticipated shift comes amid sweeping roster changes. Boston will be without Jayson Tatum for the entire season due to injury and has traded away Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porziņģis. In the wake of those moves, Pritchard is set to take on a more prominent role alongside Jaylen Brown and Derrick White.”
Afseth also reported that, with Pritchard’s promotion to the Celtics’ starting lineup, the recently-acquired Anfernee Simons is expected to be a “high-scoring option off the bench” should he remain on the team’s roster.
Pritchard, the No. 26 overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, has been a member of the Celtics organization for the entirety of his professional basketball career. He appeared in 80 of the team’s regular-season contests last year, averaging 28.4 minutes played, 14.3 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game while shooting 47.2% from the floor and 40.7% from three-point range.
He logged a roughly similar amount of playing time (27.4 minutes per game) in 11 playoff appearances last year, during which he shot 45.5% on all field goal attempts and 40.3% from behind the arc, in addition to averaging 11.9 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.5 assists per contest.
