The Celtics are planning to move veteran guard Payton Pritchard from the bench to the starting lineup next season, Grant Afseth of FastbreakJournal.com reported this week. Boston reportedly believes that Pritchard has earned a starting role through his years of steady development with their team.

Boston Celtics guard Payton Pritchard is at his best at the Ball Don't Stop Pro-Am in Victoria, British Columbia, in the offseason. Pritchard dropped 68 points

Payton Pritchard gradually broke through as an undersized guard with the Celtics, and Houston is hoping for a similar trajectory with Reed Sheppard.

It arrived when Payton Pritchard hopped off the bench. Just over a minute into his first shift, he sprinted the floor and buried a transition three from the corner, evening the score at 19.

Celtics guard Payton Pritchard is reportedly in line to start after the Jrue Holiday trade to the Trail Blazers.

The Dallas Mavericks should copy how the Boston Celtics developed Payton Pritchard to help Brandon Williams become even more dominant.

Meanwhile, FanDuel Sportsbook has the Celtics’ over/under at 42.5 wins. The 18-time NBA champions will open their season on October 22 against the Philadelphia 76ers and will have eight instances of back-to-back games. Bookies.com’s Bill Speros also wrote that the Celtics will travel 42,804.6 miles in 18 road trips.

While the Celtics need a lot to go right to be competitive this year, one big factor will be the play of Payton Pritchard.