Welcome to Boston, Payton Pritchard!!!

[Ogaju]

Pritchard got some love from the TNT crew tonight they said they like him.

[colincb]

No one knows him in the NBA yet and that helps him.  Nonetheless, made some really nice plays tonight going to the hole (especially drawing an +1 using his body to ward off Sabonis. Certainly, looks like he can be a rotation player in year one and when has CBS given raw rookies as much PT?

[Linwood]

The kid plays with a high level of confidence.

[knuckleballer]

I liked how he was using RWill. There were a couple of plays where he drew a defender away from him setting up Timelord for an easy bucket or put back.

[Donoghus]

Very impressed.   Kid plays with a veteran presence out there and the offensive flow definitely looks better when he's in there. 

Certainly looks like Danny hit on this one.

[Sophomore]

Boston Celtics
@celtics

10m
Jaylen Brown: "Payton is the GOAT, man."

 

He did win the Cousy award, so that’s his comp now.

[boscel33]

PP's good start might lay credence to staying in school.  I know the players want the money, but he's a four year college player at a very good program.  His development occured then and now his rookie year, he's 22, three years older than Jason Tatum. 

[Tr1boy]

PP's good start might lay credence to staying in school.  I know the players want the money, but he's a four year college player at a very good program.  His development occured then and now his rookie year, he's 22, three years older than Jason Tatum. 

Eh? They are the same age

Otherwise good point

[GreenWarrior]

Before we start hanging his number from the rafters can we just appreciate this guy for what he's doing right now and not jump right to putting him in the HoF.

I've seen this crap with semi and well pretty much anyone on our bench, and it just ruins the experience for some of us.

 Because what ends up happening is the guy's name will pop up as in a trade and then "we can't trade this guy unless we're getting lebron and durant in return".

Please let's just appreciate the guy what he's doing right now and keep it there.

[NKY fan]

Before we start hanging his number from the rafters can we just appreciate this guy for what he's doing right now and not jump right to putting him in the HoF.

I've seen this crap with semi and well pretty much anyone on our bench, and it just ruins the experience for some of us.

 Because what ends up happening is the guy's name will pop up as in a trade and then "we can't trade this guy unless we're getting lebron and durant in return".

Please let's just appreciate the guy what he's doing right now and keep it there.

If Pritchard plus a first round pick and salary to match is what gets us Beal I doubt you will hear many objections from posters.
There will be a couple fans that object but they also think that Timelord is going to be better than Gobert and that Romeo is an obvious all star candidate next year. There will be always people like that but won’t be a lot of them

[Tr1boy]

Before we start hanging his number from the rafters can we just appreciate this guy for what he's doing right now and not jump right to putting him in the HoF.

I've seen this crap with semi and well pretty much anyone on our bench, and it just ruins the experience for some of us.

 Because what ends up happening is the guy's name will pop up as in a trade and then "we can't trade this guy unless we're getting lebron and durant in return".

Please let's just appreciate the guy what he's doing right now and keep it there.

If Pritchard plus a first round pick and salary to match is what gets us Beal I doubt you will hear many objections from posters.
There will be a couple fans that object but they also think that Timelord is going to be better than Gobert and that Romeo is an obvious all star candidate next year. There will be always people like that but won’t be a lot of them

Pritchard is unlikely to be included

If anything Wizards would want Langford and Nesmith

[Amonkey]

Scalabrine had mentioned in the telecast that he seems like a guy that went to a lot of basketball academies in his past and that sounds about right. He is really smart and confident on his own ability. His dribbling is really good which means he's able to take care of the ball while driving to the basket and then his decision making to whether pass the ball when drawing another defender or taking it to the hoop if it doesn't is way past a rookie feeling.

It seems that he's got the IQ where things have slowed down to him. He's not being overly athletic but he probably has done some moves so many times that things are second nature to him. I think the question becomes how will he be able to adapt when other teams starts to figure out his game.

[tonydelk]

I'll admit when the C's drafted PP I was a bit perplexed.  I didn't know who he was.  So I did what I always do and googled the kid.  Go to youtube and type in Payton Pritchard's Stationary Ball-Handling Routine if you have not seen this yet.  I started watching game video of the kid after this.  His handles are legit.  I would not say he's Kyrie level because Kyrie is a much better athlete then PP.  But after seeing the video and game footage you could tell this kid can play.  Great vision and he never picks up his dribble.  To many guys get trapped in the lane or under the hoop but PP's handles are so good he doesn't.  This to me is why he is going to be in the NBA a long time.  He can shoot, pass and surprisingly finish in the lane.  That shocked me the most yesterday.  He had Saboner on him and not only hit the shot but drew the foul.  That play right there is what separates him from a guy like Edwards.  Edwards can't finish and doesn't know how to use his body like PP.  Edwards is stronger and it's something you'd hope he can learn but without PP's handles Edwards gets eaten alive in the lane.  PP's also has a confidence that is surprising.  You can tell he thinks he's hitting every shot and isn't afraid to shoot it.  If he's open he's taking the shot and I love that.  When you have guys like tatum and Brown you can be hesitant because you know it's their team and they need their shots.  The fact that this kid is not faced by it I love it.

One other play that stood out that will help his relationship with the Vets is the Smart 3pt shot.  Marcus gave the ball up in transition to PP and PP gave it right back to Marcus when he was set at the 3pt line and delivered a chest high pass that let Marcus get right into his shot in rhythm.  After Smart made the shot he gave the rookie props for identifying marcus wide open and getting the ball right back to him at the right time in the right spot.  The guys will trust this kid more and more allowing him to do his thing and dribble circles around players while they float in the paint or on the perimeter getting the open look.  He had some stout defenders on him so I think this is going to be his game.  He's a way better TJ Mcconnell.  Mcconnell doesn't have the confidence to shoot but has a good handle, plays hard and finds open teammates. 

[Surferdad]

Is he a lefty?  He drove to a left handed layup a couple of times.

No player entry for PP on basketball-reference.com ??

[mspring]

I already like Pritchard a lot.  I have been comparing him to a couple of past great point guards and he actually compares very favorably stat wise.  Let me preface this from the start that I am not saying he will be as good as the 2 point guards I am going to compare him to, but I do want to use them as examples of his possible ceiling.

One of the things I believe we can be guilty of in today's NBA is thinking that since a player played 4 years of college that they are pretty close to their ceiling.  The 2 point guards I want to compare him to both played 4 years of college and both had a very modest NBA beginning. They are John Stockton and Steve Nash.  Again hang on before you freak out.

John Stockton was a 6'1 point guard who played 4 years at Gonzaga and had very similar college stats to Pritchard. 

As a freshman 3.1 points; sophomore 11.2; junior 13.9 and senior 20.9

Steve Nash was a 6'3 point guard who played 4 years at Santa Clara and also had very similar college stats to Pritchard. 

As a freshman 8.1 points; sophomore 14.6; junior 20.9 and senior 17.0

Compare these to Pritchard's 4 years at Oregon:

Freshman 7.4; sophomore 14.5; junior 12.9 and senior 20.5

Next, if you look at Stockton's and Nash's first few seasons in the NBA they were very modest.

Stockton:
Year 1   5.6 points 5.1 assists
Year 2   7.7 points 7.4 assists
Year 3   7.9 points 8.2 assists
Year 4   14.7 points and 13.8 assists:  This is the first year Stockton was a starter the whole year

Nash:
Year 1   3.3 points 2.1 assists
Year 2   9.1 points 3.4 assists
Year 3   7.9 points 5.5 assists
Year 4   8.6 points 4.9 assists
Year 5   15.6 points 7.3 assists: This is the first year Nash was a starter the whole year

My point is that both of these players played 4 years of college and took another 4 years to really start showing what they were capable of.  They both had great vision, great knowledge of the game, great quickness, etc, but it took some time for that to come out, and both of their ceilings ended up being far greater than anyone imagined. 

Again, disclaimer, I am not saying Pritchard will become as good as either Stockton or Nash, but I do think they are interesting comparisons and I would argue they can be used as an example of the type of ceiling Pritchard could end up at.  Not saying he will for sure, but interesting to dream about!