The 2026 NBA offseason will go down in infamy for Boston Celtics fans. The cold financial realities of the NBA were laid bare to the Celtics’ fanbase when the franchise decided to trade a core figure from their 2023-24 NBA championship roster, forward Jaylen Brown, to their Eastern Conference archrival, the Philadelphia 76ers, principally in exchange for forward Paul George.
In the aftermath of the Celtics' seismic Brown-for-George trade, their 2026-27 Celtics cap sheet is projected to be $1.7 million under the NBA luxury tax and $10.3 million under the first apron salary cap threshold.
This financial picture sets the stage for another potentially painful roster decision the Boston Celtics front office, helmed by Brad Stevens, must confront over the course of the 2026-27 NBA season: whether guard Payton Pritchard receives a contract extension from the Celtics. Pritchard becomes extension-eligible on Oct 1, 2026, according to Spotrac.
If the Celtics decide that Pritchard’s next NBA contract doesn’t line up with their long-term roster vision, then the Chicago Bulls should make the effort to acquire Pritchard and promptly sign him to his next NBA contract.
Unpacking the implications of adding Payton Pritchard to a Bulls rebuild
Before any triggering occurs, adding Payton Pritchard is not a statement on Josh Giddey’s present or future standing on the Chicago Bulls roster. Instead, adding Payton Pritchard to the Chicago Bulls is more a statement on Giddey’s presumed starting backcourt mate, 33-year-old Norman Powell, whose stay with the Chicago Bulls may not even make it to the end of the 2026-27 regular season.
29-year-old Pritchard, like Powell, is an NBA champion, so there’s the locker-room intangible of keeping a veteran in the Bulls locker room who’s played at the highest level of NBA competition.
Tangibly speaking, adding Pritchard and presuming Powell is traded by the 2027 NBA Trade Deadline is an opportunity to pair Josh Giddey with a guard that unlocks a new evolutionary phase in Josh Giddey’s career: Giddey the combo guard.
Giddey has made good strides in improving his three-point shooting since getting traded to the Bulls during the 2024 NBA offseason, shooting 37.1% on 4.5 three-point attempts per game in his two Bulls seasons.
The nuance in Josh Giddey’s three-point shooting is that the majority of his made three-point baskets are assisted shot attempts, meaning Giddey needs another Bulls player to set him up for three-point shots as opposed to getting his three-point attempts from self-creation abilities (ex. pull-up jump shot.
Pritchard is an ideal backcourt partner for Giddey to continue evolving his three-point shooting skills, as Pritchard has grown into a credible starting point guard in his own right after starting 50 games as the Celtics' lead guard for the 2025-26 season.
As a career 39.4% three-point shooter on 5.2 three-point attempts, Pritchard would surely create space for Giddey to boost his catch-and-shoot three-point volume.
It’s also worth noting that sharing point guard responsibilities with the other guard on the floor isn’t a foreign concept to Pritchard, given that he started 46 of his 50 games with the 2025-26 Celtics with guard Derrick White, according to Basketball Reference, who frequently exchanged lead guard responsibilities with Pritchard.
Overall, a backcourt tandem of Giddey and Pritchard could be the best thing to help further accelerate Josh Giddey’s growth into a credible NBA shooter.
Add us as a preferred source on Google