Payton Pritchard drafted #26 overall

Spelunker

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 17, 2005
11,884
I just hope that he spends every flight, every practice, every moment on the bench, sitting next to Marcus absorbing nuggets of wisdom about how to leverage his heart and brains on defense. Like apprentice to master.
Paytanwan, to Jedi Master Smarf
 

chilidawg

Member
SoSH Member
Jan 22, 2015
5,934
Cultural hub of the universe
My favorite PP play from tonight came after he threw an ill advised lob to TT, then hustled back to break up the transition opportunity for the Pacers, and then fed Smart for an open 3 back at the other end. 5 point swing there, great hustle play.
 

Ale Xander

Hamilton
SoSH Member
Oct 31, 2013
72,567
He's a keeper. Definitely has game, at least on offense. Very intuitive player, w/ vision and patience. And we knew he had the shot. He's a hard worker , so he'll get better on defense, and loved the hustle mentioned one post above. From what I've seen, and it;s really early, but he has a significantly higher floor than Nesmith.
Hope they use that small lineup often (with him over Theis). Kemba can take his time.
 

lovegtm

Member
SoSH Member
Apr 30, 2013
12,001
When a guy clearly looks like he belongs, and it's not the result of some 3s going in, you can be more confident in a smaller sample size.

Payton Pritchard is clearly an NBA rotation player, and now it's a matter of how far he can get from here.

Agree w Cesar Crespo that having him producing already is a big deal, regardless of whether he has much upside--this team needed cost-controlled talent in the worst way.
 

Imbricus

Member
SoSH Member
Jan 26, 2017
4,813
One thing that impressed me about Pritchard last night, that I haven't seen commented on: he seemed to be able to change speeds pretty well while on the dribble, confusing his defender. Didn't expect that in his game. Also, as it was noted during the broadcast, Holiday is a top defender but didn't rattle Pritchard, who protected the ball well. Encouraging signs, even if he's not a GOAT quite yet. ;)
 

wade boggs chicken dinner

Member
SoSH Member
Mar 26, 2005
30,504
One thing that impressed me about Pritchard last night, that I haven't seen commented on: he seemed to be able to change speeds pretty well while on the dribble, confusing his defender. Didn't expect that in his game. Also, as it was noted during the broadcast, Holiday is a top defender but didn't rattle Pritchard, who protected the ball well. Encouraging signs, even if he's not a GOAT quite yet. ;)
In addition to his change of pace, he knows how to use his body in traffic and can finish with both hands. I was impressed when he finished at least one (I think 2) layups in the second half around Sabonis, who was clearly frustrated that he couldn't stop PP from finishing.

He also seems to have a nice connection with TL.
 

wade boggs chicken dinner

Member
SoSH Member
Mar 26, 2005
30,504
Yeah, I found it encouraging Pritchard had 5 assists, and a couple I believe were to Rob. On one pass though, he threw it a little behind Williams, so instead of a dunk Williams ended up shooting a short fall away jumper.
There was another play that PP drew the big over and then threw it up on the backboard for RW to collect. I assume that's scored a missed shot and OR but it was more like an assist I think.
 

HomeRunBaker

bet squelcher
SoSH Member
Jan 15, 2004
30,096
One thing that impressed me about Pritchard last night, that I haven't seen commented on: he seemed to be able to change speeds pretty well while on the dribble, confusing his defender. Didn't expect that in his game. Also, as it was noted during the broadcast, Holiday is a top defender but didn't rattle Pritchard, who protected the ball well. Encouraging signs, even if he's not a GOAT quite yet. ;)
Yes impressive. He showed these skills in college and reminded me of the Fresno St version of Chris Herren. You just don’t know how well this translates when you aren’t an elite athlete compared to your counterparts at your position. Gotta love what we are seeing though as he looks like a keeper.
 

Eddie Jurak

canderson-lite
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Dec 12, 2002
44,478
Melrose, MA
Brad putting a lot of trust in him already. 27 mins today to Teague’s 19. Played deep into this game.
He did flub late but playing with a lot of intensity and confidence.
Had a beautiful recovery and steal today.
Hopefully we see Nesmith eventually but this kid is absolutely a hit. Rest up Kemba - would love to see Pritchard get a solid 25 mins/gm and see how he develops.
He had a long stretch of minutes from the end of the third into the 4th and might have needed a break at the end. Thus far he's been very good in the 2 Indy games but less so in the Milwaukee and Brooklyn games.
He has a decent number of bad plays but they are always the kind that you know will go away with experience. Stepping out of bounds, the double clutch on the three, weird moments where he dribbles himself into a corner. But the good plays are so encouraging and he plays with a lot of confidence. Tonight was very exciting.
He seems to have the caopability to adjust or to bounce back when things don;t work or he makes an error.
When/if Kemba comes back semi-full time, there shouldn't be any need to play anyone other than Kemba, Smart, and PP at the lead guard.

Teague would (mercifully) be the odd man out and relegated to spot duty, foul trouble, injuries, etc.
Teague is the guy who could ultimately be the odd man out.
He's a keeper. Definitely has game, at least on offense. Very intuitive player, w/ vision and patience. And we knew he had the shot. He's a hard worker , so he'll get better on defense, and loved the hustle mentioned one post above. From what I've seen, and it;s really early, but he has a significantly higher floor than Nesmith.

Hope they use that small lineup often (with him over Theis). Kemba can take his time.
I do think his defense needs a lot of work and will probably determine his ultimate place in the game. At this stage, he looks to me like a good career backup, but if he can pick up the D he maybe can be more.
 

moondog80

heart is two sizes two small
SoSH Member
Sep 20, 2005
8,105
Too early to put him close to these guys of course, but Jimmy Butler, Fred Van Vleet, Draymond Green, and Malcolm Brogdon were all hits late in the draft, and the common thread is they all played 4 years in college. Are highly productive college seniors undervalued?
 

benhogan

Granite Truther
SoSH Member
Nov 2, 2007
20,124
Santa Monica
Too early to put him close to these guys of course, but Jimmy Butler, Fred Van Vleet, Draymond Green, and Malcolm Brogdon were all hits late in the draft, and the common thread is they all played 4 years in college. Are highly productive college seniors undervalued?
They are usually seen as high floor/low ceiling players.

Everyone wants to dream on the 19yr blossoming in their system.
 

Cellar-Door

Member
SoSH Member
Aug 1, 2006
34,464
They are usually seen as high floor/low ceiling players.

Everyone wants to dream on the 19yr blossoming in their system.
Draymond was also pretty disastrous in athletic testing and if I remember right in not great shape over the draft process. I think he was a guy who hit the NBA training and diet thing very hard after he fell in the draft and it made a big difference also he ended up in a perfect spot, who knows what a guy like Draymond looks like if he goes top 15 and has expectations on offense given that outside of one year he's a bad offensive player. Draymond is a really talented defender, but..... he's a system guy. He'd be nowhere near as valuable on a team that didn't have 2-3 of the best shooters in the league at any given time on the roster, and honestly in the post KD/Klay era it has started to show.
 

joe dokes

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 18, 2005
30,243
In addition to his change of pace, he knows how to use his body in traffic and can finish with both hands. I was impressed when he finished at least one (I think 2) layups in the second half around Sabonis, who was clearly frustrated that he couldn't stop PP from finishing.
That struck me as well. He seems extremely comfortable with his body on both ends of the floor.
 

moondog80

heart is two sizes two small
SoSH Member
Sep 20, 2005
8,105
To contending teams, yes. Problem is they don't always translate so you end up wasting a pick.
But you end up wasting your pick no matter you do late in the draft anyway (and early in the draft too, to some degree). Nothing outside of the top 6 or so translates at a rate higher than 50%.
 

BaseballJones

ivanvamp
SoSH Member
Oct 1, 2015
24,386
Too early to put him close to these guys of course, but Jimmy Butler, Fred Van Vleet, Draymond Green, and Malcolm Brogdon were all hits late in the draft, and the common thread is they all played 4 years in college. Are highly productive college seniors undervalued?
The answer to your question is yes. In my mind, if you get a really good player for ten seasons, that's a hugely successful draft pick. And if you draft a guy at 22 years of age instead of 19, yeah, you're "losing" three years of the back end of his career. But at 22, if he's actually good, he should be able to last until he's 32, having a really nice career.

Plus, a guy at 22 is almost certainly likely to be a more mature individual, and that may mean he's more NBA-ready right off the bat. So while you need a couple of years to groom a 19-year old, the 22-year old is more likely to help you right away. So how much of his career are you really losing?

Now if a guy stays in school that long, he's probably got a limited ceiling (unless he's a really late bloomer...David Robinson grew like 7-8 inches in college and didn't become DAVID ROBINSON until like his junior year)...lower than the 19-year old. So you take that into account. But to me, a 22-year old senior who's been really really good in college - assuming he still has pro skills - can be an immensely valuable asset. I don't know that he's the guy you take at the top of the draft because there you're looking for the home run player, but still...in the middle of the first round or later, yeah guys like this should be more sought after than they are, in my view.

(but what do I know...I'm not running an NBA team)
 

Kliq

Member
SoSH Member
Mar 31, 2013
22,673
The answer to your question is yes. In my mind, if you get a really good player for ten seasons, that's a hugely successful draft pick. And if you draft a guy at 22 years of age instead of 19, yeah, you're "losing" three years of the back end of his career. But at 22, if he's actually good, he should be able to last until he's 32, having a really nice career.

Plus, a guy at 22 is almost certainly likely to be a more mature individual, and that may mean he's more NBA-ready right off the bat. So while you need a couple of years to groom a 19-year old, the 22-year old is more likely to help you right away. So how much of his career are you really losing?

Now if a guy stays in school that long, he's probably got a limited ceiling (unless he's a really late bloomer...David Robinson grew like 7-8 inches in college and didn't become DAVID ROBINSON until like his junior year)...lower than the 19-year old. So you take that into account. But to me, a 22-year old senior who's been really really good in college - assuming he still has pro skills - can be an immensely valuable asset. I don't know that he's the guy you take at the top of the draft because there you're looking for the home run player, but still...in the middle of the first round or later, yeah guys like this should be more sought after than they are, in my view.

(but what do I know...I'm not running an NBA team)
I think a key thing when it comes to the four year players and seeing their year-over-year growth in college. Kemba and Dame are two really good examples; they were not star players at all in college as freshmen; instead they kept improving year-over-year to become the best players in the country by the time they were seniors. That showed a strong work ethic and the ability to improve with more practice and game time. Not surprisingly, those guys continued to show year-over-year improvement in the NBA, well into their late 20s.

This is different than players who stay four years, but are basically good right away in college. To me that shows that there is something about their game, stylistically or athletically, that doesn't translate to the NBA. If you average 20 ppg as a freshmen, and you don't go as a lottery pick, there is a reason for that. Players like Kemba, Dame, FVV, Draymond and Pritchard were not NBA prospects as freshmen; so they had to stay in college and the result was they improved year over year to work their way into the draft.

Some other players that fit the same mold: CJ McCollum, Buddy Hield, Josh Hart, Derrick White, Monte Morris, Taurean Prince, Caris LeVert, Larry Nance Jr., Norman Powell, Josh Richardson, Doug McDermott, Mason Plumlee. It isn't that unusual to find four year players that can contribute a lot at the NBA level.
 
Last edited:

HomeRunBaker

bet squelcher
SoSH Member
Jan 15, 2004
30,096
Too early to put him close to these guys of course, but Jimmy Butler, Fred Van Vleet, Draymond Green, and Malcolm Brogdon were all hits late in the draft, and the common thread is they all played 4 years in college. Are highly productive college seniors undervalued?
I’m also pretty sure the only one who played as a rookie was Brogdon while the others were staples to the bench. I’m a firm believer that a players leap from Year 1 to Year 2 is generally the greatest and will give you a good read on their long term potential.
 

BaseballJones

ivanvamp
SoSH Member
Oct 1, 2015
24,386
I think a key thing when it comes to the four year players and seeing their year-over-year growth in college. Kemba and Dame are two really good examples; they were not star players at all in college as freshmen; instead they kept improving year-over-year to become the best players in the country by the time they were seniors. That showed a strong work ethic and the ability to improve with more practice and game time. Not surprisingly, those guys continued to show year-over-year improvement in the NBA, well into their late 20s.

This is different than players who stay four years, but are basically good right away in college. To me that shows that there is something about their game, stylistically or athletically, that doesn't translate to the NBA. If you average 20 ppg as a freshmen, and you don't go as a lottery pick, there is a reason for that. Players like Kemba, Dame, FVV, Draymond and Pritchard were not NBA prospects as freshmen; so they had to stay in college and the result was they improved year over year to work their way into the draft.
Yep, these are great points.

I think to be successful, NBA teams do need franchise-type guys, and maybe those won't be the 4-year senior types. But the 4-year senior types (as you mention) can certainly be good-to-excellent NBA players. They might not be THE GUY to lead teams to a title, but they can be really good.

So teams who pick in the middle part of the draft could do a lot worse than consistently picking solid high-floor-but-lower-ceiling guys. A team of Draymond, FVV, Lillard, etc., would be a really solid NBA team. Then you might have to land one stud free agent or something.

Just a different way of thinking about things is all.
 

The Mort Report

Member
SoSH Member
Aug 5, 2007
6,904
Concord
An encouraging sign I’ve seen in some of his TOs is they seem to stem from him not use to the height of the NBA. I can’t think of many really bad TOs where they were straight bad decisions. He just needs to get accustomed to the speed and height of the pros
 

nighthob

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
12,680
The answer to your question is yes. In my mind, if you get a really good player for ten seasons, that's a hugely successful draft pick. And if you draft a guy at 22 years of age instead of 19, yeah, you're "losing" three years of the back end of his career. But at 22, if he's actually good, he should be able to last until he's 32, having a really nice career.

Plus, a guy at 22 is almost certainly likely to be a more mature individual, and that may mean he's more NBA-ready right off the bat. So while you need a couple of years to groom a 19-year old, the 22-year old is more likely to help you right away. So how much of his career are you really losing?

Now if a guy stays in school that long, he's probably got a limited ceiling (unless he's a really late bloomer...David Robinson grew like 7-8 inches in college and didn't become DAVID ROBINSON until like his junior year)...lower than the 19-year old. So you take that into account. But to me, a 22-year old senior who's been really really good in college - assuming he still has pro skills - can be an immensely valuable asset. I don't know that he's the guy you take at the top of the draft because there you're looking for the home run player, but still...in the middle of the first round or later, yeah guys like this should be more sought after than they are, in my view.
I had someone in the pro scouting business explain this to me thusly, "When you're 22 you'd better be better than the teenagers you're competing against or I'm not going to think that you're a prospect at all."

This was one of the things working against Brogdon, who turned 24 his rookie year. Buddy Hield avoided the same draft fate because as a senior he was shooting treys at an insane percentage on insane volume (he was over 45% on more than 9 3FGA/g if memory serves). Brogdon's numbers in this regard were more pedestrian, though he also showed big senior year improvements (from memory I think it was around 40% on 4-5 3FGA/g).

We had a debate about Hield on this board in the run-up to the 2016 draft, I was one of those in favor of Ainge trading down for Hield because I loved the jumper. I wasn't averse to a trade down for Brown. I did hate the Brown selection at #3. Thank god I wasn't in charge. Because there's a non-zero chance that he's the best player from that pool (assuming that Simmons' never develops a jumper and JB's defense continues to get better).

Usually there's a good reason that guys stay all four years. Sometimes it's physical/athletic limitations (Pritchard falls into this category). Sometimes it's Haywardian injury luck (LaVert falls here). Sometimes guys just aren't that good coming out of high school and need 3-4 years to show that they'll keep improving.

EDIT: And, to mention again, I think Brogdon is the guy Ainge would have grabbed at #23 if the NBA didn't do things bass ackwards (insist on having NBA teams fill out their roster before free agency). If Boston knew that Durant was going to take the easy way to a title, Ainge would have looked for a solid four year college guy in the 20s.
 
Last edited:

DannyDarwinism

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 7, 2007
4,883
Eyeballing the four year guys since 2015, and it looks to me like they out-perform their average draft slots. This is quick and very dirty, so I've probably missed some guys, but this is a list of four year college players drafted outside of the lottery (I've included guys like Semi who transferred and sat out a year- ymmv with whether it’s wise to include them), followed by their draft slot and year, total minutes played, then Win Shares/48:

2019
Matisse Thybulle - 20th; 1315; .084
Brandon Clarke - 21st; 1375; .174
Dylan Windler - 26th; N/A
Cody Martin- 36th; 958; .058
Justin James- 40th; 235; .030
Eric Paschall- 41st; 1733; .063
Admiral Schofield- 42nd; 368; .017
Terrance Mann- 48th; 416; .078
Quinndary Weatherspoon- 49th; N/A
Jarrell Brantley- 50th; N/A
Justin Wright-Foreman- 53rd, N/A
Marial Shayok- 54th; N/A


2018
Grayson Allen- 21st; 1214; .051
Chandler Hutchinson- 22nd; 1474; .038
Jevon Carter- 32nd; 1572; .050
Devonte Graham- 34th; 2993; .063
Svi Mykhailiuk- 47th; 1771; .038
Keita Bates-Diop- 48th; 1247; .059

Vince Edwards- 52nd; N/A
Devon Hall- 53rd; N/A
Kevin Hervey- 57th; N/A
Thomas Welsh- 58th; N/A
George King- 59th; N/A


2017
Derrick White- 29th, 3544; .112
Davon Reed- 32nd; 289; -.039
Josh Hart- 30th; 5041; .085
Wes Iwundu- 33rd; 3220; .063

Frank Mason- 34th; 1537; .038
Semi Ojeleye- 37th; 2801; 065
Damyean Dotson- 44th; 3370; .044
Sterling Brown- 46th; 2628; .074

Sindarius Thornwell- 48th; 1511; .035
Monte Morris- 51st; 3738; .135
Alec Peters- 54th; 225; .055
Jabari Bird- 56th; 115; .098 **** Career cut short by domestic abuse charges
Jaron Blossomgame- 59th; N/A

2016
Caris Levert- 20th, 5601; .065
Brice Johnson- 25th; 107; .062
Malcolm Brogdon- 36th; 7051; .121
AJ Hammonds- 46th; N/A
Jake Layman- 47th; 2299; .064
Michael Gbinije- 49th; N/A
Georges Niang- 50th; 1585; .082
Joel Bolomby- 52nd; N/A
Marcus Paige- 55th; N/A

Abdel Nader- 58th; 2083; .048
Isaiah Cousins- 59th; N/A
Tyrone Wallace- 60th; 1639; .006

2015
Jerian Grant- 19th; 4998; .080
Larry Nance Jr.- 27th; 7532; .133

Anthony Brown- 34th; 762; -.016
Rakeem Chrismas-36th; 225; .105
Darrun Hilliard- 38th; 859; .016
Josh Richardson- 40th; 9732; .090
Pat Connaughton- 41st; 4521; .109

Joe Young- 43rd; 1077; .016
Marcus Thornton- 45th; N/A
Norman Powell- 46th; 5819; .098
Aaron White- 49th; N/A
Sir'Dominic Pointer- 53rd; N/A
Cady Lalanne- 55th; N/A
Branden Dawson- 56th; N/A


There's probably a bunch of UDFA guys that would be interesting to look at, but the only ones who come to my mind immediately as recent four year guys are FVV, Terrance Davis, Caleb Martin and Tacko. Looking at 2014 without going through the whole draft, and Napier, Joe Harris, Dwight Powell and Jordan Clarkson all fit the bill, if memory serves

Anyway, this is more of a book mark for when I have time to look deeper as to how the four year guys compare in terms of draft value, but the guys in bold have, to my mind, unquestionably outperformed their draft slots. The guys in italics have either underperformed or played less than 200 minutes total in their careers. The rest are either pushes or TBDs.

Overall it does seem like there's a lot of good value there. A lot of the guys who didn't do anything were drafted really late, between 45-60, and those guys generally don't do much anyway. This deserves a more thorough look, but I figure some might find the list interesting in and of itself.
 
Last edited:

lovegtm

Member
SoSH Member
Apr 30, 2013
12,001
Eyeballing the four year guys since 2015, and it looks to me like they out-perform their average draft slots. This is quick and very dirty, so I've probably missed some guys, but this is a list of four year college players drafted outside of the lottery (I've included guys like Semi who transferred and sat out a year- ymmv with whether it’s wise to include them), followed by their draft slot and year, total minutes played, then Win Shares/48:

2019
Matisse Thybulle - 20th; 1315; .084
Brandon Clarke - 21st; 1375; .174
Dylan Windler - 26th; N/A
Cody Martin- 36th; 958; .058
Justin James- 40th; 235; .030
Eric Paschall- 41st; 1733; .063
Admiral Schofield- 42nd; 368; .017
Terrance Mann- 48th; 416; .078
Quinndary Weatherspoon- 49th; N/A
Jarrell Brantley- 50th; N/A
Justin Wright-Foreman- 53rd, N/A
Marial Shayok- 54th; N/A


2018
Grayson Allen- 21st; 1214; .051
Chandler Hutchinson- 22nd; 1474; .038
Jevon Carter- 32nd; 1572; .050
Devonte Graham- 34th; 2993; .063
Svi Mykhailiuk- 47th; 1771; .038
Keita Bates-Diop- 48th; 1247; .059

Vince Edwards- 52nd; N/A
Devon Hall- 53rd; N/A
Kevin Hervey- 57th; N/A
Thomas Welsh- 58th; N/A
George King- 59th; N/A


2017
Derrick White- 29th, 3544; .112
Davon Reed- 32nd; 289; -.039
Josh Hart- 30th; 5041; .085
Wes Iwundu- 33rd; 3220; .063

Frank Mason- 34th; 1537; .038
Semi Ojeleye- 37th; 2801; 065
Damyean Dotson- 44th; 3370; .044
Sterling Brown- 46th; 2628; .074

Sindarius Thornwell- 48th; 1511; .035
Monte Morris- 51st; 3738; .135
Alec Peters- 54th; 225; .055
Jabari Bird- 56th; 115; .098 **** Career cut short by domestic abuse charges
Jaron Blossomgame- 59th; N/A

2016
Caris Levert- 20th, 5601; .065
Brice Johnson- 25th; 107; .062
Malcolm Brogdon- 36th; 7051; .121
AJ Hammonds- 46th; N/A
Jake Layman- 47th; 2299; .064
Michael Gbinije- 49th; N/A
Georges Niang- 50th; 1585; .082
Joel Bolomby- 52nd; N/A
Marcus Paige- 55th; N/A

Abdel Nader- 58th; 2083; .048
Isaiah Cousins- 59th; N/A
Tyrone Wallace- 60th; 1639; .006

2015
Jerian Grant- 19th; 4998; .080
Larry Nance Jr.- 27th; 7532; .133

Anthony Brown- 34th; 762; -.016
Rakeem Chrismas-36th; 225; .105
Darrun Hilliard- 38th; 859; .016
Josh Richardson- 40th; 9732; .090
Pat Connaughton- 41st; 4521; .109

Joe Young- 43rd; 1077; .016
Marcus Thornton- 45th; N/A
Norman Powell- 46th; 5819; .098
Aaron White- 49th; N/A
Sir'Dominic Pointer- 53rd; N/A
Cady Lalanne- 55th; N/A
Branden Dawson- 56th; N/A


There's probably a bunch of UDFA guys that would be interesting to look at, but the only ones who come to my mind immediately as recent four year guys are FVV, Terrance Davis, Caleb Martin and Tacko. Looking at 2014 without going through the whole draft, and Napier, Joe Harris, Dwight Powell and Jordan Clarkson all fit the bill, if memory serves

Anyway, this is more of a book mark for when I have time to look deeper as to how the four year guys compare in terms of draft value, but the guys in bold have, to my mind, unquestionably outperformed their draft slots. The guys in italics have either underperformed or played less than 200 minutes total in their careers. The rest are either pushes or TBDs.

Overall it does seem like there's a lot of good value there. A lot of the guys who didn't do anything were drafted really late, between 45-60, and those guys generally don't do much anyway. This deserves a more thorough look, but I figure some might find the list interesting in and of itself.
Great work, thanks for listing out the players rather than just lumping together average win shares.

That’s a very solid group overall, particularly considering how low their typical draft slot is.
 

luckiestman

Son of the Harpy
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
32,622
Someone tell Dean “thanks for wishing me good luck, since this hit so fast can you wish me good luck on my powerball numbers?”
 

Eddie Jurak

canderson-lite
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Dec 12, 2002
44,478
Melrose, MA
After another good game last night, he's 4th on the team in minutes, one minute ahead of Teague.

Watching him more, the following things stand out:
  • He can shoot some
  • He has some court awareness/vision
  • He has a good handle
  • He has great composure/confidence - if he gets himself into a bad situation, like dribbling into a trap, he is able to get himself out of it
  • He pushes the pace every chance he gets (Brad must love this)
  • He can run the pick and roll pretty well
He hasn't really shown "run an offense" kind of vision and decision-making yet, but it is early and point guards are usually the slowest to develop in the NBA. Whether he's a point or more of a combo guard remians to be seen. Also, his defense neeeds work. But it already looks like his worst case scenario will be "solid bench contributor."
 

lovegtm

Member
SoSH Member
Apr 30, 2013
12,001
After another good game last night, he's 4th on the team in minutes, one minute ahead of Teague.

Watching him more, the following things stand out:
  • He can shoot some
  • He has some court awareness/vision
  • He has a good handle
  • He has great composure/confidence - if he gets himself into a bad situation, like dribbling into a trap, he is able to get himself out of it
  • He pushes the pace every chance he gets (Brad must love this)
  • He can run the pick and roll pretty well
He hasn't really shown "run an offense" kind of vision and decision-making yet, but it is early and point guards are usually the slowest to develop in the NBA. Whether he's a point or more of a combo guard remians to be seen. Also, his defense neeeds work. But it already looks like his worst case scenario will be "solid bench contributor."
The Celtics are weird in that they need “run an offense” less than “loosen things up for the main Tatum/Brown action.” It’s a good situation for Pritchard to have landed in.
 

Eddie Jurak

canderson-lite
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Dec 12, 2002
44,478
Melrose, MA
The Celtics are weird in that they need “run an offense” less than “loosen things up for the main Tatum/Brown action.” It’s a good situation for Pritchard to have landed in.
Yes, indeed. This version of the Celtics doesn't need a Rondo type running things. Pritchard's role will ultimately depend on what he can do defensively.
 

DannyDarwinism

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 7, 2007
4,883
When a young point guard shows so quickly that he belongs, it’s a very good sign for his future, and for PP, it’s not like he’s showing out due to some potentially higher variance skills like hot shooting- he’s just using his handle to play at his pace, seeing the court well on both ends, and showing good physicality in using his body to keep his dribble live and finish when he goes to the rack. I definitely did not expect this level of on-ball savvy this early, I thought he’d mainly be used as a shooter, but now that he’s shown it, he should be given progressively more leeway to create out there. Defensively he’s been getting buried in screens a bit too much, but with his general court vision and fight, I expect he’ll improve quickly there. Not great laterally, but a lot of that can be mitigated by technique and focus too, plus he has great hands and has shown good timing with digs and recoveries.

It feels a bit irrational to feel like this about a guy four games into a weird-ass season, but if/when he starts adding the crazy range and pull-up threat that made him such a dynamic player at Oregon to the game he’s been playing as a young pro, he’ll be a really dangerous guy for a team led by the Jays. Pre-draft, I really wanted a four-year college guy- specifically Tillman, Bane or Flynn- with one of the picks because of the potential to contribute early and provide value to a good team while on a rookie contract, and so far PP is looking like the best bet out of anyone to do that.
 

HowBoutDemSox

Member
SoSH Member
Aug 12, 2009
10,104
Bleacher Report with an early summary of players from the 2020 draft class already showing surprising upside, including Pritchard:
Payton Pritchard (Boston Celtics, PG)

Biggest early surprise: Execution

Despite averaging 20.5 points and 5.5 assists at Oregon, Payton Pritchard didn't go until No. 26 in the draft. Scouts had trouble seeing past his limited athletic ability for a 6'2" guard. In 31 games last year (36.6 minutes per game), he recorded one block and zero dunk attempts.

But the NBA's speed and length haven't bothered Pritchard through four games. While Kemba Walker sits, coach Brad Stevens has made the rookie a regular in the rotation from Opening Night, even giving Pritchard key time in the fourth quarter.

While it's not so surprising to see his three-ball fall (5-of-9), his execution inside the arc seems more unexpected. Despite lacking explosion, he's getting past defenders with timing and craftiness, and he's converting shots using his touch and body to shield.

Built-in competitiveness and IQ have always hinted at NBA role-player potential out of Oregon. But seeing his scoring efficiency and playmaking translate this early suggests Pritchard can instantly be that role player for a playoff team.