Boston Celtics: Report card grades for C’s guards in 2021-22
The Boston Celtics bench
Derrick White
On February 10th at the trade deadline, the C’s would go on to acquire veteran, Derrick White from the San Antonio Spurs in exchange for Josh Richardson, Romeo Langford, and a 2022 first-round pick.
The 6-4 combo guard would continue to struggle with his shot for a large chunk of his early tenure, but was just about as dynamite as one could have asked him to be in every other facet of the game.
White is a tremendous defender and, on the offensive side of the ball, has a knack for finding his teammates in the right spots, doing a masterful job running the offense for the bench.
Everyone wanted to harp on the fact that White has not shot the ball well. I must apologize to fans for this false narrative that he was a sharpshooter.
When you do a deep dive and look at his career splits, he’s a career 34 percent shooter from distance and has only hit over that mark three different times in six seasons.
The 27-year-old finished his regular season with the C’s averaging 11 points with 3.5 assists and 3.4 rebounds per game. The shooting splits left much to be desired, but as I have debunked as myth just a moment ago, he’s not a shooter.
However, an 85 percent conversion clip at the charity stripe is amazing and something he’s continued to maintain throughout his career.
The addition of Derrick White has made Boston’s top-ranked defense even more elite and adds another punch to our second unit–a unit that significantly struggled earlier in the season.
He is not in the A-range quite yet because of an inability to consistently knock down open three-pointers, but he’s certainly close.
Grade: B+
Payton Pritchard
The sophomore guard went through a slump earlier in the season but has since salvaged it in the second half following the Dennis Schroder trade which freed up a larger role for him, serving as the eighth man to complete Ime Udoka’s rotation.
If we were to solely judge Payton Pritchard based on the second half of the season, he’d be in the A-range for sure, as he’s been shooting lights out and has been a consistent double-digit scorer off the pine during this stretch.
For one reason or another, he barely saw the floor before the trade deadline.
Pritchard is scorching the earth with his smooth shooting 3-point touch, knocking such attempts down at a 41 percent clip for the second straight season.
Do not let the Oregon product’s size and frame fool you, as he is criminally underrated defensively with the uncanny ability to be a gamer on the glass, play the passing lanes, and hold in his own in tough individual defensive matchups.
With Marcus Smart taking a keen interest in his development, we may see a maestro before our eyes on the Tommy point end of the floor.
In his final 10 games of the year, Pritchard averaged 10.6 points a game on 47/45/100 shooting splits.
At only 24 years old, we still have to thank Danny Ainge for this gem of a pick back in 2020.
Grade: B
Aaron Nesmith
After a solid rookie year, Aaron Nesmith has backslid in a very bad way.
He finds himself in a tough situation fighting for minutes void of a spot in the rotation.
The former lottery pick was taken over the likes of Desmond Bane, Tyrese Maxey, and Saddiq Bey and drafted for his ability to space the floor.
This year, his 3-point percentage plummeted from a solid 37 percent to a menial 27 percent.
Nesmith has instead made his calling card on being an energy guy who hustles and plays his best when he drives aggressively to the basket and creates second-chance points through extra efforts on the boards.
The buck stops here with any praise, as he plays way too fast, wild, and erratic to get significant time on a basketball court.
This leads to overcommitting on defense which, unfortunately, leads to unnecessary fouls.
He does not give himself enough time to get set on open shots and is often the victim of costly turnovers by playing too fast.
Time may be running out for the sophomore guard to find any staying power on the Boston Celtics or in the league.
Grade: D+