NBA training camps open in the final week of September, and between now and then, we’ll be pondering 20 questions about the Boston Celtics as we head into the new season. Today we look at Payton Pritchard, who is hoping his opportunity grows.
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Every team has its “darling.” He’s often a player whose role is limited (this way people can scream for him to get more of an opportunity) and whose play exceeds expectations (so people can justify their screaming).
Sometimes that player thrives with more time, and sometimes he flounders.
This is where Payton Pritchard finds himself going into this season. After a surprisingly effective rookie campaign, Pritchard added to his lore by dominating summer league (well, most of it), and taking a short break to score 92 points in a pro-am.
He’s earned this “darling” status, which, to be clear, is not the same as the “loveable end-of-bench guy.” He’s not Brian Scalabrine or Tacko Fall. Pritchard seems good enough to contribute to this team in a meaningful way and earn consistent, important minutes.
However convinced his believers might be about his ability to contribute, there are still questions about how, and how much, he actually will.
Let’s start with the obvious positive: every team needs a guy who can shoot 41% on 3-pointers. Pritchard has demonstrated not only an ability to hit from deep, but to hit from deeeeeeep. It’s his best and most helpful skill. If he plays a big role on this year’s team, it’ll be because of this ability to stretch defenses.
He spent the summer trying to hone in his long-range bombing and trying to be more of a pace-setting point guard. Pritchard is a jackrabbit, making his second-most useful skill a level of speed and hustle that opponents are hard-pressed to match.
And now the obvious negative: He’s small, and Davion Mitchell showed in Las Vegas that one determined defender has the ability to take away both Pritchard’s speed and shooting advantage. He also was not effective against the Brooklyn Nets in the playoffs, when he only managed 17 shots in five games, and only 10 from deep (he hit three of those).
Basically, some game-planning may be able to exploit his deficiencies, at least right now.
Also working against Pritchard is his age. He turns 24 in January, which means his physical peak is around the corner while he’s only in year two of his NBA career. It’s not out of the question to ask how much better he can actually get, especially when there may be a numbers crunch at his position.
Marcus Smart and Dennis Schröder will split most of the minutes at point guard and even overlap at times. If Josh Richardson starts, he’ll take up a lot of minutes at the 2-guard. Some of those other minutes may go to Jayson Tatum or Jaylen Brown in big lineups.
We can argue that Pritchard deserves to play 20-25 minutes per game, but that might not be very possible. He played 19.2 minutes per game last season, but a lot of that was buoyed by Kemba Walker’s knee management program and Smart’s calf injury.
How much better can he really get if he’s not getting big minutes?
Of course, he could simply just take those minutes from other people by earning them in the preseason and early regular season and practices. Size issues aside, Pritchard could simply get open looks by virtue of being on the floor with more dynamic players and by being able to hit from 30 feet.
If the opposition suddenly has to commit a defender to Pritchard at the logo, then that opens things way up for the rest of the four on the floor. And if Pritchard’s point-guarding improves, he might be able to shake defenders from those deep spots and collapse a defense, thus opening things up for his teammates.
Last season gave Pritchard some great opportunities, and his summer league was certainly exciting. It’s not out of the question to expect Pritchard to contribute. Even if he is a strong regular season player who needs to sit in the playoffs so he’s not a defensive liability, an ability to eat up minutes and keep Ime Udoka from needing to ride his stars too hard will be very valuable. If he manages to contribute in the playoffs, then that could be a bonus.
It is, however, not inconceivable that Pritchard stumbles this season. A lack of minutes and potential focus on the taller players at his position could push him a little further down the depth chart.
Pritchard is a good player and he certainly will get his opportunities. Maximizing those could help the Celtics offense which seems a bit devoid of reliable shot-makers. However, it’s no given that he will excel in those chances. Just like a pitcher going through the lineup a second time, we have to see if Pritchard’s early success was real.
The 20 questions series:
