Regardless of whether he starts or stays on the bench next season, there are reasons to think Payton Pritchard is about to have a career year with the Boston Celtics.
The Oregon native is fresh off his best campaign to date (17 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 5.2 assists on 46.4/37.7/89% shooting splits in 79 games - including a career-high 50 starts), and it should only be getting better for him from here on out.
Pritchard took on a bigger role last year in place of Jayson Tatum (who missed most of the season due to an Achilles tear), but it was always meant to be temporary. With Jaylen Brown no longer in the picture after his trade to the Philadelphia 76ers, the Celtics are going to rely on Pritchard a lot more to carry some of the offensive load and create some shots and have the ball in his hands a lot more.
I'm not going to predict this Jalen Brunson-type leap that Boston is potentially hoping to get out of Pritchard, but we've seen what he can do in an expanded role, and fans should be excited about what next season could look like for him.
The Celtics need Payton Pritchard to step up next season
With Tatum now Boston's clear-cut No. 1 guy, he's going to need everybody else on the team to step up and take some pressure off of him, particularly to generate some points on offense.
That is exactly where Pritchard comes into play.
When he is hot, Pritchard is borderline unstoppable. He is incredibly dangerous to opposing defenses with the ball in his hands. He is a shifty and pesky guard who can score from all three levels, has limitless range, and can go one-on-one against anybody and everybody. Pritchard has been an important part of Boston's success for years (largely because of his bench scoring), but the team is going to need even more out of him next season.
Payton Pritchard has earned a starting role in Boston
In theory, it's probably best for the 28-year-old to enter the Celtics' starting lineup full-time. He can single-handedly take pressure off of Tatum, Paul George, and Derrick White, and this would give him more opportunities to have the ball in his hands, which is when he's at his most dangerous.
Pritchard also proved he can contribute to winning basketball as a starter (the Celtics were 31-19 in games he started last season, according to StatMuse).
It might be tough for Boston to make this decision since A) it wouldn't have a clear backup point guard (I don't trust Mike Conley to play real minutes, and it's way too early to know if Devin Carter can actually make a difference), and B) the bench scoring, which was already bad, would only get worse.
Regardless, fans should expect Pritchard to go wild next season, and if last season was just a glimpse into what he can do in a bigger role, then the sky is the limit for him.
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