Boston Celtics guard Payton Pritchard agreed to a two-year, $44.2 million contract extension, ESPN's Shams Charania reported, according to NESN.

Pritchard, 28, still has two years left on his current four-year, $30 million deal, The Boston Globe reported. So the extension will not start until the 2028-29 season.

The second year is a mutual option for 2029-30, NESN said. That means either Pritchard or the team can choose to pick it up. If neither does, he becomes a free agent.

His pay will jump from $8.3 million in 2027-28 to $21.3 million in 2028-29, NESN reported. He will become Boston's third-highest-paid player, behind Jayson Tatum and Derrick White.

Pritchard had until Oct. 19 to sign an extension, NESN said.

His rise has been a long one. The Celtics picked him 26th in the 2020 draft, the Globe reported. His playing time dropped in his second and third seasons, and he asked to be traded midway through his third year.

Celtics president Brad Stevens kept him and promised a bigger role, the Globe said. Pritchard played all 82 games in 2023-24 and helped Boston win the championship. He hit a famous 43-foot shot to end the first half of the title-clinching game against Dallas.

He was named Sixth Man of the Year the next season, both outlets said. Last season he averaged a career-high 17 points, with 5.2 assists and 3.9 rebounds, NESN reported. He made 50 starts, NESN said, taking on a bigger role after guard Jrue Holiday left, the Globe reported.

"Everybody always tries to put people in a box," Pritchard said last month, according to the Globe. "And I just feel like, those expectations, I kind of blow them out the water."

What we know: Pritchard agreed to a two-year, $44.2 million extension starting in 2028-29.
What we don't: Whether either side will pick up the 2029-30 option.