In the final seconds of Boston's Monday night loss to Cleveland, Payton Pritchard sustained an injury. When time ran out, the quick guard tried a game-winning layup after driving the length of the court but was vigorously challenged by three Cavaliers and struck the court hard.
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While Payton Pritchard is now sidelined due to injury, he has continued to advance his basketball career off the court. On March 15, the Creative Arts Agency announced that Pritchard had left his agent and joined the organization. Pritchard explained the decision in an interview with MassLive’s Souichi Terada, stating that it was only a “business decision.” This can be interpreted as a sign of a probable deal coming up in the future off-season.
“At the end of the day, it’s a business decision,” Pritchard said. “I think when you’re going into making choices on your future and your business, you want somebody that you believe is going to represent you in the best way and really help you. I’m not dissing my previous agent or anything like that. At the end of the day, it’s a nerve-wrecking time so you want to go with somebody that you really believe.”
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Pritchard made no secret of his desire for a greater position, either in Boston or elsewhere, prior to the trade deadline expiring on February 9th. He was purportedly offered by the Celtics as part of a trade deal for Jakob Poeltl before the experienced big move to the Toronto Raptors, but a transfer never happened for him.
Since then, Pritchard has recommitted to the Celtics, promising the press that he will do whatever is required of him to help the club hoist their 18th championship banner. However, his present ailment is preventing him from contributing and maybe carving out a spot for himself in the rotation going into the postseason.
“My mind’s already reset, and I’ve already been open about where I was at. And I’m here now. I’m a professional at the end of the day, I’m gonna work, and any minute I’m gonna play because I love to play basketball. This whole thing about what everybody’s been saying, you know, I love this city, I love this organization, I love my teammates, this is like one of the best…I’m here, and I do love it here, and I’m committed. I wanna help this team any way I can to win a championship,” Pritchard said.
Pritchard has stated that he is “taking it slow,” but there is no estimated time frame for when he will be ready to return to the basketball floor. Luckily, the Celtics have a sturdy guard rotation, which is both a bother for Pritchard and a benefit for the team at the same time.
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