Boston Celtics guard Payton Pritchard spoke with Noa Dalzell of CelticsBlog and put an end to the discussions of whether or not he should come off the bench or start. Anfernee Simons joined the Celtics this summer, bringing with him questions of who should start alongside Derrick White. Pritchard’s thoughts? It doesn’t matter.
“A lot of things can change in a year – you can start a couple of games, you cannot,” Pritchard told Dalzell. “For me, it’s about controlling what I can control – and that’s coming into games and changing the game, and being an unbelievable player and helping my team win. So that’s the only thing I’m focused on, ever. It’s not about accolades, it’s not about starting or anything like that. It’s about: how can I become the best player possible?”
But what should the Celtics actually do?
Should Celtics start Payton Pritchard or Anfernee Simons?
There are two separate questions to be asked here. One: Do Pritchard and Simons care about who starts? Clearly, in Pritchard’s case, the answer is no. Two: Who should Joe Mazzulla start, Pritchard or Simons? That answer is more difficult to dissect.
On the surface, the answer seems simple: Simons. But looking past the surface is important in this case. Simons has put up better numbers than Pritchard throughout the course of his career, but he’s also earned more opportunities than Pritchard.
For a while, Simons was the top shot-getter on the Portland Trail Blazers. He’s been a focal point of their offense since the final years of Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum’s time with the franchise.
He’s an elite three-point shooter in terms of efficiency and volume, but he’s gotten the chance to be. Pritchard has spent his career sitting behind the likes of Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Derrick White, Kristaps Porzingis, and others in terms of shot priority.
Not only is Pritchard a better defender and already integrated into the Celtics’ system, but he’s also under contract with Boston for much, much longer.
Simons is on an expiring contract. There’s no guarantee that he’s on the team past this year. He could leave in free agency next summer. Meanwhile, Prithcard is under contract for this year and two more after that.
Boston should be prioritizing the development of guys they know will be in town once Tatum returns from his Achilles injury. That’s Pritchard.
Add in the fact that he earned this opportunity with how well he performed last year, and it’s clear that Pritchard should start over Simons next season.