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Boston Celtics: Bob Cousy Award winner climbs rankings in 2020 redraft

By Sam LaFrance

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - JUNE 02: Payton Pritchard #11 of the Boston Celtics reacts during the fourth quarter against the Golden State Warriors in Game One of the 2022 NBA Finals at Chase Center on June 02, 2022 in San Francisco, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - JUNE 02: Payton Pritchard #11 of the Boston Celtics reacts during the fourth quarter against the Golden State Warriors in Game One of the 2022 NBA Finals at Chase Center on June 02, 2022 in San Francisco, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) /
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Danny Ainge was criticized greatly on his drafting ability during his time with the Boston Celtics. Critics will cite picks like Fab Melo, Kelly Olynyk, James Young, Romeo Langford, and Aaron Nesmith when making the argument against Ainge’s drafting ability.

In recent years, Ainge really knocked it out of the park. From 2015 on, the man quite simply hasn’t missed (excluding Langford and Nesmith). Danny drafted Terry Rozier, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, Robert Williams III, Grant Williams, and Payton Pritchard. All of which, except Rozier, played a big part in the team’s recent NBA Finals run.

In his final draft as Boston Celtics President of Basketball Operations, Ainge drafted Pritchard at No. 26. Very quickly, Pritchard made an impact for the Cs, converting on a game-winning layup to beat the Miami Heat early in his rookie season. Since then, he’s given Boston a nice scoring punch off the bench.

Bleacher Report showed some respect towards Pritchard in their recent class of 2020 redraft. B/R’s Andy Bailey moved the 2020 Bob Cousy Award winner up 10 spots in his redraft board, writing:

"“Payton Pritchard probably isn’t going to be a star. Because he’s undersized (6’1″ with a 6’4.5″ wingspan), he may never be a plus defender, either. But there’s plenty of value in what he does.During his two NBA seasons, Pritchard has a top-40 assist-to-turnover percentage (among players with at least 100 assists) and is tied for 11th in three-point percentage (among players with at least as many attempts as him).Having a reliable creator who can run the second unit is important, but Pritchard brings the added bonus of being able to space the floor when sharing it with ball-handling starters.”"

Pritchard had a nice hand in Boston’s NBA Finals run last spring. He scored 10+ points off the Celtics’ bench 6 different times. Unfortunately at the end of the run he seemed to lose his legs, shooting just 3-14 from deep in the Finals. The poor shooting and below average defense really limited Pritchard’s time on the floor against the Golden State Warriors. Over the final four games of the series, he cracked 10 minutes just once.

With the addition of Malcolm Brogdon, it will certainly be interesting to see where he fits into this year’s rotation for Boston. At the very least he’s a great piece to have in case one of the other guards goes down with an injury.

dark. Next. Not all Cs guards expected to remain on roster