Joe Mazzulla sends powerful message after Payton Pritchard’s new contract

Joe Mazzulla sends powerful message after Payton Pritchard's new contract appeared first on ClutchPoints. Add ClutchPoints as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The Boston Celtics made sure that Payton Pritchard was under contract for the foreseeable future, locking him up on a two-year extension this week. The seven-year guard has spent his entire career with the Celtics to this point, and he is the second-longest tenured player on the team behind only Jayson Tatum. His name has become synonymous with the franchise, so much so that Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla says he is among the very first names that come to mind when thinking about the team, as per Jay King of The Athletic.

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"I think when people think of a Celtic, he's one of the guys that first comes to mind," Mazzulla said. "So he's a great competitor, great guy."

The No. 26 overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, Payton Pritchard has emerged as arguably the Celtics' best guard option. He's come off the bench for the majority of his career, but it's possible that he moves into the starting lineup this season alongside Derrick White amid the departure of Jaylen Brown.

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This past season, the former Oregon standout appeared in 79 games, including 50 starts, at a little over 32 minutes per game. He averaged a career-high 17.0 points, 3.9 rebounds and 5.2 assists with splits of 46.4 percent shooting from the field, 37.7 percent shooting from the 3-point line and 89 percent shooting from the free-throw line.

Coming into the NBA, there were questions raised by supposed experts regarding Pritchard's height being a potential hinderance. Immediately after signing his new contract extension, the Celtics guard addressed those doubters via social media.

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