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Tim BontempsESPN
Danny Ainge, president of basketball operations for the Boston Celtics, grew up in Eugene, Oregon and, after a stellar four-year career at BYU, earned his living during his 14-year career in the NBA as a tough, tough goalie. , which could shoot.
Decades later, Ainge fell in love during the draft with another Oregon child. And while rookie Payton Pritchard didn’t go to Ainge’s alma mater, he had a four-year decorated career at the University of Oregon and possessed an NBA-quality leap like Ainge.
This prompted Ainge to recruit Pritchard with the 26th pick in the NBA draft in November last year, a pick he and the Celtics probably hoped could become a small part of coach Brad Stevens’ rotation in this season. Instead, Pritchard became a vital part of Boston’s hopes of making another deep playoff round.
On Thursday night against the Raptors, Pritchard showed why, scoring 20 points as he went 6-for-8 from the 3-point range to help the Celtics defeat the Toronto Raptors 120-106 in a night in which the two This season’s team stars, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, combined to shoot 8-for-27.
“They attract such a crowd, so they’re going to have to attract a double team or something,” Pritchard said afterward. “So it’s our job to space the floor and find openings for them.”
As a four-year-old college player with a clever touch, Pritchard certainly fits the type of player capable of making an early impact in the league. However, it is a high barrier for a rookie to join a team with championship aspirations, such as Boston, and become an essential part of the team’s rotation. Debutant colleague Aaron Nesmith, for example – the 14th pick in the 2020 draft – hardly played at all.
Pritchard, on the other hand, is now clearly the sixth man on the team. He played in every game when he was healthy this season – and more than 10 minutes in every game, except for the one in which he suffered an MCL sprain against the Philadelphia 76ers on January 22nd. Even with those missed games, he made 3 more points than all but Tatum and Brown on the Celtics this season, while his 46.9% behind the arc clip has him second only to Desmond Bane of Memphis (48.2%) among beginners who have taken at least three triples per game and 10th among all players who have taken so many per game this season.
And while acknowledging that he doesn’t expect Pritchard to win six 3s per game, Stevens said he could immediately say the rookie had a chance to make an impact this season.
“Before the training camp started,” Stevens said.[the draftees] he came a few days after the sketch and, after a few tests, they managed to work in small groups and you could say he was quite advanced. “
Part of what made Pritchard so important is the lack of options around him on the Boston bench. No one questions the top talent of the Celtics on the perimeter, between Tatum, Brown, Kemba Walker and Marcus Smart (who currently has a calf stalk).
Behind them, however, the options are limited. Jeff Teague was signed to be the team’s main backup guard, but after scoring 19 points in the opening game of the Celtics season, he fired 30% from the field (including a terrible 28% on 2-point shots) and was given up on Stevens’ rotation, Pritchard taking his place as the first guard on the bench.
While Semi Ojeleye had 24 career points on Thursday, including his own 6-for-8 performance in the 3-point range, this is far from a common occurrence, as he entered Thursday with an average of less than a 3 per match. Boston’s other regular spinning players on the bench – Tristan Thompson, Grant Williams and Robert Williams – all bring different skill sets, but none can be counted on for instant offense.
Probably no one else on the team can come in and offer that instant offense, as Pritchard did on Thursday – and he did it all season. And while he was a goal-scoring goalie in Oregon, playing on a Boston team with Walker, Tatum and Brown allowed Pritchard to slip perfectly like an off-ball player whose opposing defensive shot must respect him. He provided Celtics’ primary scoring options with room to operate and was good enough defensively to maintain his own position.
And in a game in which Tatum and Brown missed 19 shots, this distance – and Pritchard, Ojeyele and Walker’s hot shots – which went 5-for-8 from the 3-point range – allowed them to accumulate 19 assists.
Questions remain about the depth of Boston. While Pritchard has clearly established himself as the team’s main guard on the bench, and the Boston senior quartet – Daniel Theis, Thompson and both Williamses – will play a role, the team still has no depth behind its trio. of Tatum wings. , Brown and Smart.
The kindness of both the $ 28 million trade exception created by Gordon Hayward’s departure this season and his status as one of the few contestants to control the first-round pick going forward, Boston has the ability to add a piece between today’s trade and next month. deadline. And given the wide open East at the moment, such a move could allow the Celtics a chance to make it to the finals and return to the NBA Finals after reaching the Eastern Conference Finals in three of the last four seasons. .
However, Pritchard’s game has helped alleviate some of the concerns about scores from outside Boston’s top options. As a result, less than two months after the start of his rookie season, Pritchard made Ainge look necessary to bet on another four-year-old from Oregon.