An anonymous NBA general manager doesn’t know if disgruntled Boston Celtics guard Payton Pritchard can find the major role he’s looking for anywhere across the league’s 30 franchises — and he shared these doubts with Heavy’s Steve Bulpett.
“I like him, I definitely think he can help a team,” the general manager prefaced before saying, “But he needs to be in a perfect situation to get a 25-minute-a-game role,” he said. “I’m not sure where that is.”
The general manager feels Pritchard is dealing with an identity crisis as a young player who wants to prove to his peers that he belongs.
“Even young great players, they don’t know that it takes other stars to play with, and you’ve got to learn to get along,” the GM said. “He’s no different than anybody else. They just want a chance to prove they’re better than an every third game for 10 minutes kind of player. You don’t really feel like you’re part of winning when it’s like that.”
Boston Celtics guard Payton Pritchard has ‘several supporters in Phoenix’s front office’
Pritchard could have one team out there looking to give him a home. As Yahoo’s Jake Fischer reports, Pritchard has “several supporters” in Phoenix’s front office and could be on the Suns’ radar this offseason or next.
“Payton Pritchard, the former first-round pick who fell out of Boston’s rotation, has several supporters in Phoenix’s front office, sources said, and is expected to feature prominently in the NBA’s general trade landscape this summer, when Pritchard becomes extension eligible,” Fischer wrote.
The Suns are looking to move on from a point guard themselves in 38-year-old Chris Paul, who has been deemed a potential backup fit for the Celtics. Even in the twilight of his career, though, Paul could likely find a starting job somewhere across the Association. Should Phoenix desire a trade for CP3 and Boston be on board, Malcolm Brogdon, Danilo Gallinari, and Pritchard make for a salary match in a potential deal. The Celtics may even be able to get draft capital back in such a scenario.