Last February, Celtics guard Payton Pritchard publicly and privately made it clear that he wanted to be traded, and he expressed his disappointment when he wasn’t. As the season progressed, neither Pritchard’s role nor his stance changed much, raising questions about his future in Boston.
But in June, president of basketball operations Brad Stevens traded the team’s longest-tenured player, Marcus Smart, in a three-team deal that brought big man Kristaps Porzingis to the Celtics. Suddenly, the backcourt logjam was eased, and Pritchard’s path to playing time was in sight.
Pritchard said he views the trade as a sign of the front office’s confidence in him, but he’s seen so much that he doesn’t believe anything is guaranteed.
“For me, I have to do my part,” Pritchard said by phone Saturday, as he prepared to host his youth basketball camp in Foxborough on Sunday. “If I get a chance to play, I have to show what I’m capable of and that I can help win at a high level. So, I’m just waiting for the opportunity to show that. At the end of the day I’m a winner and obviously I’m going to help Jaylen [Brown] and Jayson [Tatum]because they are the two that push us, but we need all of them to help them get over the hump and finally win a championship.
Pritchard said he talked to coach Joe Mazzulla often this summer, the discussions mostly focused on how he could affect games in different ways. The career 40-percent 3-point shooter is known primarily as a long-range marksman and a solid ballhandler, but he and Mazzulla believe he can add more than that.
“I think it’s different every night,” Pritchard said. “Obviously, I have the ability to shoot and space the floor, but also this year to be able to take pressure, and if I have to handle it and step it up and show more of the passing side of things, I can do that. But I talked to Joe, and it’s going to be a lot of different things. Defensively, my intensity to get on the ball, press, activate my hands, and find ways to impact the game every time.
Mazzulla said last month that Derrick White will be the team’s starting point guard, and it appears that Malcolm Brogdon will return to his sixth man role. Pritchard is certainly positioned to grab a more prominent role, but he knows that Smart’s departure will create a void that the Celtics will have to fill collectively.
“It’s tough,” Pritchard said. “I played with Marcus for three years and I have been with him since the beginning of my journey in the NBA. So, he helped me a lot. He looks at me like an older brother. He is an amazing player. I know he will go on to do great things. And for what he brings to the defensive end and his leadership in different areas, we all have to step up and fill those gaps. This is a great opportunity for some of us, but he will definitely miss out. “
Pritchard was part of the USA Select team that practiced and competed against the national team ahead of this summer’s World Cup appearance and said he benefited from playing against some of the best in the world.
Pritchard has been working out in Boston for nearly four weeks and said he has never seen so many Celtics at the Auerbach Center this early. He can feel the buzz and excitement associated with the acquisition of Porzingis, and the continued rise of this core who has been a title contender for years but has yet to take the final step.
“I feel like the guys are very motivated,” Pritchard said. “There is a sense of urgency to do something special. And if you feel it, if you get that chance to win at this level, you have to have a sense of urgency and go for it.
And Pritchard, still in Boston, still working for his bigger moment, is eager to see where he fits into this group. He emphasized that his trade request last season had nothing to do with a dislike for the city or the organization. It’s just that he’s a gym rat, and sits and looks sick.
“This is probably the best place to play basketball,” Pritchard said. “There is no other place [like it]. But at the end of the day, in any line of work, you want to see where you match up, and play and compete, and that’s where my head is. I still feel the same way about that. I want to go out there and play every game and compete, because I feel like I belong there enough. I want to keep pushing myself to see how far I can go. “
Adam Himmelsbach can be reached at adam.himmelsbach@globe.com. Follow him @adamhimmelsbach.