Boston Celtics: Frontrunners to win each of the 2021-22 NBA awards
By Nick Swanson
Most likely Boston Celtics Sixth Man of the Year: Payton Pritchard
The projected depth chart for the Boston Celtics has Dennis Schröder as the starting point guard and Marcus Smart as the starting shooting guard. That means that Payton Pritchard will be the head of the bench unit alongside Josh Richardson, both of whom will be vying for this year’s Sixth Man of the Year honors.
Since this award is usually given to a player that excels at scoring, looking at Lou Williams and Jordan Clarkson, Pritchard is the safer of the two Cs to win.
Pritchard lit it up for the Celtics in 2020-21 and was one of the more electrifying players on the team in a year where it seemed as if all hope was lost. In his 66 games played, he started four of them and averaged 7.7 points, 2.4 rebounds and 1.8 assists on 44% from the field and 41.1% from beyond the arc. While those numbers don’t look like much, Pritchard was one of the only bright spots in a season marred by injuries.
With both Smart and Schröder both in the starting lineup, Pritchard becomes the likely number one option when the bench unit is in the game. His progression will allow Jaylen Brown, who tended to be the main option when some of the bench unit came in, to spend more time on the sideline resting.
Pritchard’s offensive ability greatly outmatches that of Josh Richardson or anyone else on the Celtics bench for that matter, which makes him the most likely player to win Sixth Man of the Year for the C’s.
If he’s able to put up around 16 points per game and a couple of assists while helping the team win games, it’ll be hard to make an argument against him as that’s pretty much how Jordan Clarkson won it in 2020.