Boston Celtics: 2 not-so-obvious players who should be off the trade block

Boston Celtics player No. 1) Payton Pritchard

A major talking point as of late is that, should the Boston Celtics be engaging with other organizations on the trade block they’ll almost certainly be discussing the idea of offloading one of their main backcourt talents in Marcus Smart and Dennis Schroder, with the latter of the two being the most often discussed commodity being shipped out.

Should they wind up parting ways with one of these more highly sought-after commodities, we feel as though it’s imperative for Brad Stevens and co. to then keep the likes of second-year guard Payton Pritchard in tow, for they’ll need someone to fill out some of, if not the entirety of the vacated role left behind and, luckily for the shamrocks, the 23-year-old seems to have what it takes to excel when given more action on the hardwood.

Though as a whole Pritchard is seemingly having a down year, when one digs a bit deeper they’ll find that this is largely due to inconsistent playing time within the rotation thanks to the offseason additions of both Schroder and even Josh Richardson, as they’ve managed to dig into the minutes he saw during his first year with the ball-club, seeing nearly six minutes cut from his 2020-21 averages.

In turn, on the year the youngster finds himself posting diminished per-game averages of just 4.9 points and 1.9 rebounds on just 36 percent shooting from the floor in 13.5 minutes a night. When looking at these stats, however, it’s important to keep in mind that these numbers only tell half the story of his sophomore campaign for, when the point guard actually received a consistent and efficient amount of playing time he has actually managed to tap back into his rookie form that turned him a quality contributor for the team.

More specifically, during a seven-game stretch in mid to late December that saw Boston decimated by COVID-19 complications, the guard was called upon to take on a larger role where he saw himself absolutely balling, boasting averages of 13.1 points, 4.1 rebounds, and three assists on 46 percent shooting from the floor and 42 percent shooting from deep in 27 minutes per game.

We all know what Payton Pritchard can do when given the opportunity — it’s what made him a fan favorite and highly used role player during his first season in the league.

As a trade asset, the C’s would almost certainly get bare minimum value in return for his services. However, if Boston wound up clearing out more space for him in the rotation to then have him take on a larger role, he’d likely once again become an incredibly competent commodity within Ime Udoka‘s lineup.

To us, Pritchard is of more use to the Celtics as a player than a mere trade chip and unless another organization is willing to cough up, say, a future first or a rather valuable complementary role player we think it would be best for Stevens to hold onto him this trade season.