Payton Pritchard admits he was surprised Celtics drafted him in 2020

"I didn’t even think I was gonna go to Boston."

Payton Pritchard has developed into a key cog for the Celtics over the last few seasons. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)

January 9, 2025

2 minutes to read

Payton Pritchard has settled into a featured role with the Celtics, with the sharpshooting guard putting himself in contention for the Sixth Man of the Year Award this season by averaging 14.8 points per game in under 26 minutes a night.

But the 26-year-old Pritchard admitted that he didn’t initially think Boston was going to be a viable spot for him during the 2020 NBA Draft.

Much like Jayson Tatum’s musings around the time of the 2017 NBA Draft, Pritchard thought that the Celtics already had too much depth on their roster by the time the team selected him with the 26th pick out of Oregon.

“I remember the whole thing,” Pritchard said on the latest episode of “The Young Man and The Three” podcast. “I remember there being a bunch of people around and I’m just sitting there like every pick goes by and people are just staring and waiting and I’m like, ‘I’m just going upstairs. I can’t be around everybody.’ … You’re just sitting there waiting for a call from your agent.

“And I didn’t even think I was gonna go to Boston, cause I was looking at their roster too and I’m like they’re guard-heavy. They picked two point guards in the draft before and I didn’t even work out for them or anything.”

As Pritchard noted, the Celtics already had a pretty crowded depth chart when it came to guards and other swingmen further down on the roster in 2020.

Before Boston selected Pritchard 26th overall, the team added Aaron Nesmith out of Vanderbilt with the 14th overall pick. The previous year, Boston added guards Romeo Langford (No. 14), Carsen Edwards (No. 33), and Tremont Waters (No. 51) via the draft as well.

It took three seasons for Pritchard to emerge as a regular in Boston’s bench rotation, surpassing 20 minutes per game for the first time in 2023-24. But even in his early days with Boston when he was utilized more for mop-up duty, Pritchard wasn’t lacking in confidence.

“I think I definitely would’ve got drafted higher honestly,” Pritchard added. “(Because) I would’ve had March Madness and the way I was playing, I was ready for that moment. That can boost your stock right there — just having good performances and leading your team. … I only did two individual workouts at that time and that was Toronto (Raptors) and Detroit (Pistons) that came to LA. So I didn’t get that opportunity but, yeah, it still worked out.”

Even if Pritchard was seemingly overlooked by several NBA teams during his senior year at Oregon, he’s found a solid spot in Boston — especially on a Joe Mazzulla-led roster that embraces a barrage of shots from 3-point range.