Payton Pritchard Rumors

There was a quote making the rounds that Jaylen Brown was the seventh-best player on the Celtics. Jaylen Brown grades out as the fifth most impactful player on the roster, behind Tatum, Queta, White, and Pritchard. But here's the context that matters: Brown also carried an enormous load. Last season, 35.2% of Boston's possessions ended in a Brown shot, free throw attempt, or turnover, one of the highest usage rates in the entire league. That usage cuts both ways. If Brown's role were reduced, his impact metrics could actually climb. Fewer possessions could mean better efficiency on offense and more energy to pour into his defense. So while I don't think any serious analytical person would call Brown the seventh-best Celtic, I do think it's fair to call him overvalued relative to his contract moving forward. And that's the real question the Celtics have to sit with: what is Brown producing in his current role, and what are they paying for it?

hoopinformatics.leaflet.pub

The Celtics trading Brown is a bet that Payton Pritchard is their in-house version of New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson, a diminutive player who didn't fully show his talents until Luka Dončić was out of the picture. The splits on Pritchard without Brown are intriguing to say the least.

Yahoo! Sports

League sources say the Bucks and Celtics have haggled over what pieces would be attached to Brown: the 27th pick? How many future firsts? Hugo Gonzalez? Payton Pritchard? The Celtics have been reluctant to give up much more than Brown.

Yahoo! Sports

White is one of three Celtics to finish in the top six this year, joining Jaylen Brown and Payton Pritchard. Their upper-tier finishes have something to do with the Celtics overcoming Jayson Tatum’s absence for most of the season to defy expectations and finish with a 56-26 regular-season record. One of the players who voted for White said: "Everyone is trying to say Jaylen Brown is an MVP candidate. They're wrong. White has actually been the biggest reason they're so good this season. He does everything — offense, defense, leadership — for them."

New York Times

Noa Dalzell: Asked (a very visible disappointed) Payton Pritchard how he balances processing a 56-win season with this outcome: “Just because you don't win a championship one year doesn't mean it didn't build for the next championship. So, when we won Banner 18, four years before that, we lost four straight — lost to Miami, lost in the finals. So those might have been disappointing years, but maybe those led to the championship. So, that's how I look at it.”

x.com

StatMuse: Celtics 3-point shooting in Game 7. Jaylen Brown: 3-9 3P Derrick White: 5-16 3P Baylor Sheierman: 0-3 3P Payton Pritchard: 2-7 3P Hugo Gonazlez: 0-3 3P Jordan Walsh: 0-2 3P Ron Harper Jr: 0-1 3P Luka Garza: 0-2 3P Sam Hauser: 3-6 3P Mazzulla ball.

x.com

Noa Dalzell: Payton Pritchard on the mindset after this loss: “I mean, it's disappointing. Every game you lose in the playoffs is disappointing. But the playoffs — every series is life of its own. You never know when you're gonna get it done. So, you gotta move on & get ready for Thursday.”

x.com

Mike Gorman: Payton Pritchard makes me want to come back! ☘️

x.com

In that spirit, Payton Pritchard hired a personal chef at the end of last season. He does whatever he can to treat his body well. He has added exercises to a stretching routine that he prides himself on doing, no matter what’s going on in his life. He has cut out drinking alcohol and limited how much bread he eats. Despite a sweet tooth, he has dropped cookies and milkshakes from his diet. Sometimes he will eat strawberries with a little bit of whipped cream instead. “That’s a better alternative,” Pritchard said. “Those differences over time build up.” Pritchard said changing his sleep habits worked. He tweaked his routine after games. He put away his electronics before bedtime, focused more on his hydration and at times used magnesium drinks. He believes it helped him play 79 games and gave him more energy throughout the regular season. “It’s stuff that everybody talks about,” Pritchard said. “But it’s like, can I do it?”

New York Times

Jaylen Brown: “Payton’s been big time. We call him Big Shot Bob around here. He just makes timely plays, timely baskets. Those rebounds are big for us. His development has been great as well. Sometimes it has fallen under the radar with all the other guys that we have, but Payton has been very significant to our success. Tonight was an example of that. In his minutes, he just won every little play, and on top of that, made some big shots. Big-time game from Payton.”

YouTube

Legion Hoops: PAYTON PRITCHARD OFF THE BENCH: 32 POINTS 12/21 FG 6 3PM 5 AST 0 TOV (!!)

x.com

Gary Washburn: #Celtics get a gritty 108-100 win over the #76ers, Jayson Tatum with a pair of 3-pointers in the final 1:57 to seal it. BOS leads series 2-1. Tyrese Maxey scored 31 for PHL but just 2 in the final 8:42. He looked exhausted. Jaylen Brown 25, Payton Pritchard 15, Nikola Vucevic 11, Derrick White 11.

Twitter

Anthony Edwards, Naz Reid and Jaden McDaniels have been together for six seasons, an eternity in the turnstile NBA. They have played 382 regular-season games together since uniting in 2020, 113 more than the next closest active trio: Boston’s Sam Hauser, Payton Pritchard and Derrick White (269 games), according to Elias Sports Bureau. They’ve reached two straight Western Conference finals, unprecedented success for a franchise that has spent most of its existence toiling in dysfunction and self-pity. “It’s pretty cool. It’s like going to high school freshman year with your friends and just sticking together the whole way, building each year,” McDaniels said. “Each year we’ve been together, we’ve gotten better and went further (as players) than we have the previous season.”

New York Times

On a sunny August afternoon, I sat down with Payton Pritchard to discuss the reality that the upcoming Celtics season was being widely deemed a Gap Year. He laughed. “There’s only one mindset, always,” he told me then. “I’ve never been on any team in my life where the mindset wasn’t to try to compete for the championship.”

Celtics Blog