Celtics point guard Payton Pritchard has heard the debate about the starting lineup, but he isn’t concerned with it.
Everything is up in the air for the Boston Celtics heading into the 2025-26 regular season. And that includes the starting lineup, as Jayson Tatum is out indefinitely with an Achilles injury and former starters Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday are no longer in Beantown.
Although these offseason changes dismantled Boston’s 2024 championship core, they also gifted several players newfound opportunities. For example, Celtics point guard Payton Pritchard could be named a starter next season despite previously coming off the bench for most of his NBA career.
Pritchard, who once requested a trade out of Boston due to a lack of playing time, flourished during the 2024-25 season. He averaged career-highs in every major statistical category and earned Sixth Man of the Year honors as a result.
Will Payton Pritchard start for the Celtics?
Despite the Oregon native’s astounding year, he still isn’t guaranteed a starting role. In exchange for Holiday, the Celtics landed another guard, former Portland Trail Blazer Anfernee Simons.
Unlike Pritchard, Simons has started every game he’s played in since the beginning of the 2022-23 season. The 26-year-old has averaged 15 points per game over the course of seven years and thrives from the 3-point line, shooting a little over 38% for his career.
Since Simons has more experience as a starter and Pritchard excels off the bench, perhaps the former is the logical choice for the opening rotation. No matter what the Celtics decide, Pritchard just wants to contribute to winning, per Noa Dalzell of CelticsBlog.
“It doesn’t matter to me,” Pritchard said. “For me, it’s about controlling what I can control — and that’s coming into games and changing the game, and being an unbelievable player and helping my team win. So that’s the only thing I’m focused on, ever. It’s not about accolades, it’s not about starting or anything like that. It’s about: how can I become the best player possible?”
Given Pritchard’s well-documented work ethic, this isn’t a surprising answer. The 2024 NBA champion has always been a team player who knows what it takes to win.
However, he might have to get used to losing more than usual next season. According to FanDuel, Vegas is betting against the Celtics winning more than 45 games. Tatum’s injury and the aforementioned roster shakeup have a lot to do with that underwhelming projection, and it’s up to Pritchard, Simons, and the rest of the healthy C’s to prove those oddsmakers wrong.
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