This season, the Boston Celtics have dominated the majority of the other NBA teams, while a few notable exceptions have caused the team problems. These teams typically have long, athletic players who can cause havoc or are adept at finding ways to make the Celtics feel like their own worst enemies.
Additionally, Boston tends to turn to ISO-heavy playing styles when things get tight offensively, which hasn’t worked well for them in the past. One may argue that in those situations, a bit extra dramaturgy might be the solution.
Zach Buckley of Bleacher Report has adopted this strategy, recommending acquiring a two-way player in advance of the league’s 2024 trade deadline.
According to Buckley, “Payton Pritchard’s first season as a full-time rotation player has been a smashing success.” “If the playoffs roll around, it’s still reasonable to wonder if he can handle the role.”
He obviously have the offensive skill to succeed. Although it took him some time to get going, he now has a 37.9% splash rate when shooting from outside the area. He has also developed the habit of making excellent decisions, as evidenced by the gap that exists between his averages of 2.9 assists and 0.6 turnovers.
The B/R expert claims, “It’s more that opponents will relentlessly target him as a (6-foot-1), 195-pound player with less than elite athleticism.”
According to NBA.com, his opponents are shooting 4.5 percentage points better against him than they are on average, which doesn’t exactly allay worries. Boston may therefore need to get a larger ball handler with the ability to produce plays on both ends.
Given that Pritchard is unlikely to play in the postseason outside of favorable matchups and for short enough stretches that game-planning against him won’t matter as much, we’re less concerned about this than Buckley is.
However, we wouldn’t be surprised if the native of West Linn ended up wearing a different uniform as part of a deal to
