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Payton Pritchard signs two-year, $44.2 million extension with the Celtics

The former Sixth Man of the Year cashes in after a career season, with a mutual option that could keep him in Boston through 2030.

By NEP Staff · Oct 14, 2026
Payton Pritchard signs two-year, $44.2 million extension with the Celtics

Payton Pritchard is staying in Boston, and he is getting paid like a cornerstone.

The Celtics and Pritchard agreed to a fully guaranteed two-year, $44.2 million contract extension, ESPN's Shams Charania reported Tuesday, citing CAA co-head of basketball Austin Brown and agent Max Saidman. The deal includes a mutual option for the 2029-30 season.

The 30-second version

  • Two years, $44.2 million, fully guaranteed, plus a mutual option for 2029-30.
  • The extension kicks in for 2028-29, after his current deal ends. He makes $7.8 million this season and $8.3 million next year.
  • He will earn over $21 million in 2028-29, with the option year worth nearly $23 million.
  • The agreement came six days before the extension deadline for players with two years left on their deals.

Why now

Pritchard, 28, is coming off the best season of his career. With Jayson Tatum missing much of last season, the 6-foot-1 guard started 50 of his 79 games and averaged career highs of 17.0 points, 5.2 assists and 3.9 rebounds in 32.4 minutes per game. His touches per game jumped from 51.8 in 2024-25 to nearly 70, the second-largest increase among players with at least 4,000 touches in each season.

It is a remarkable rise for a player who signed a four-year, $30 million extension in October 2023, a deal that became one of the league's best bargains. Since then, Pritchard has won a championship in 2024 and the Sixth Man of the Year award in 2025.

What the option means

The mutual option gives both sides flexibility. Either Pritchard or the Celtics can opt in for 2029-30; if neither does, he becomes a free agent. That structure also opens the window for extension conversations in the summer of 2029.

Pritchard was eligible for a three-year, $69 million extension, but the two sides settled on the shorter deal, per Hoops Rumors.

The bigger picture

Pritchard is one of four players to make at least 200 three-pointers in multiple seasons in Celtics history, joining Jayson Tatum, Derrick White and Antoine Walker, according to ESPN Research. He has also been durable, playing 241 games over the past three seasons.

He enters a retooled Boston backcourt alongside Tatum, White and Paul George. With Jaylen Brown now in Philadelphia, the Celtics will need more creation and scoring from the players who remain. At media day, Pritchard pushed back on the idea that one player would simply take over: "I'm not coming into this year and being like, Jaylen's gone and it's my turn," he said, adding that the whole team would need to improve.

The Celtics open the 2026-27 regular season against the Detroit Pistons on Oct. 20.

Cover image is an AI-generated illustration, not a photograph of the actual event.

Sources