Boston Celtics guard Payton Pritchard refuses to call next season a reset.
The veteran brushed off talk of 2025-26 as a “gap year,” even as many around the league see it differently.
With Jayson Tatum recovering from a torn Achilles and four key veterans gone, expectations have dimmed. Odds makers have Boston near the middle of the pack, while national power rankings peg the roster among the East’s bottom tier. Pritchard said he doesn’t share that outlook.
“There’s only one mindset, always. I’ve never been on any team in my life where the mindset wasn’t to try to compete for the championship,” he told CelticsBlog’s Noa Dalzell at his charity tournament in Roxbury.
“People can say gap year and all that, but as a competitor, that should never be it, and that’s not the mindset of the city of Boston, either.”
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His confidence struck a chord with team president Rich Gotham, who praised the guard’s approach. Gotham called him “a fighter” and said Pritchard’s edge builds belief inside the locker room.
Pritchard, fresh off winning the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year Award, could start for the first time in his career, though the addition of Anfernee Simons complicates that decision. He insisted he’s not worried about labels.
“For me, it’s about controlling what I can control,” he said. “That’s coming into games and changing the game, and helping my team win.”
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The Celtics also brought in Chris Boucher, a former Oregon teammate of Pritchard’s. He sees the big man as an energy piece who can make plays in transition and eat minutes without fading.
Boston’s ceiling remains uncertain.
The roster is thinner, and health will play a major role, but Pritchard made one point clear.
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This season will be treated like every other, with the chase for a title still the only goal.