Prichard Wanted Trade Deadline Move

[Ed Monix]

Pritchard wanted to leave Boston sooner then expected in search of getting more playing time. The guard admitted that he wanted to be traded on Thursday in an interview with The Boston Globe’s Gary Washburn.

“I definitely was expecting and hoping [for a trade],” Pritchard said. “But you know, I [have to] look at the good things. We’re the best team in the NBA right now and we have a great team with really great players, so for me it’s an opportunity to learn and to keep growing.”

Now that he knows he’ll be in Boston until the season’s end, Pritchard keeping his focus on one thing.

“It was an emotional day, but you know I’m here and I quickly changed my mind and I’m here to do a job to the best of my ability,” Pritchard told Washburn. “For me my mindset is just come in every day and keep getting better. The only thing I can do is focus on that.”

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Source: Boston.com

[Roy H.]

Sometimes it’s good not to be completely candid.  Saying it once, in a future sense?  Fine.  Saying it twice, and confirming that you’re disappointed that you weren’t moved off a title team?  That makes him seem disgruntled and selfish.

Keep it to yourself, PP.  your lousy play has already hurt your trade value.  Now you’re making yourself look like somebody most concerned about getting his.  That’s just going to make other teams less interested.

[GreenlyGreeny]

Not a good look for Pritchard. Hopefully we can ship him west in the off-season.

[Who]

Good for Pritchard. He should want to play. Not rot away on the end of someone's bench.

And he is taking the disappointment well.

I don't understand the criticism. All I see is a commendable attitude.

[Roy H.]

Good for Pritchard. He should want to play. Not rot away on the end of someone's bench.

And he is taking the disappointment well.

I don't understand the criticism. All I see is a commendable attitude.

Commendable to repeatedly express wanting to be moved off the current team, while actively hurting the team with your poor play?  I’d say talk to your agent and quit being a distraction.

[letsgoblue86]

Sometimes it’s good not to be completely candid.  Saying it once, in a future sense?  Fine.  Saying it twice, and confirming that you’re disappointed that you weren’t moved off a title team?  That makes him seem disgruntled and selfish.

Keep it to yourself, PP.  your lousy play has already hurt your trade value.  Now you’re making yourself look like somebody most concerned about getting his.  That’s just going to make other teams less interested.

Agreed here, Roy. Definitely something better off unsaid. Doesn’t reflect towards his teammates or coach.

But I can’t fault him for feeling that way. He feels like he deserves more burn and minutes are hard to come by for him right now.

[Roy H.]

Sometimes it’s good not to be completely candid.  Saying it once, in a future sense?  Fine.  Saying it twice, and confirming that you’re disappointed that you weren’t moved off a title team?  That makes him seem disgruntled and selfish.

Keep it to yourself, PP.  your lousy play has already hurt your trade value.  Now you’re making yourself look like somebody most concerned about getting his.  That’s just going to make other teams less interested.

Agreed here, Roy. Definitely something better off unsaid. Doesn’t reflect towards his teammates or coach.

But I can’t fault him for feeling that way. He feels like he deserves more burn and minutes are hard to come by for him right now.

Oh, I get it.  Every player in the NBA probably has the ego and competitiveness to think they deserve a larger role.  And, I get wanting to change his situation; I’m sure we’ve all left jobs before.

I just don’t like going to the media multiple times, and openly expressing that you want out so much that you can’t wait four months to get your shot.  That’s especially true when you’re not playing well.  Instead of giving media interviews that can’t possibly help him or the team, Pritchard should be practicing his jumper.

[ChillyWilly]

Doesnt bother me he wants more playing time but he's been boon or bust this season. He's not a consistent player and he lets bad possessions snowball. Not really sure if he's more than a 7-9 guy in anyone elses rotation for various reasons.

I dont think he's being honest with himself and not wanting to play out on the best team is very strange to me. You'd rather have minutes on a bottom dweller than being an asset for the best team in the league? Seems weird I agree with above he was better off keeping this to himself.

[ozgod]

I posted this in the Should we trade Pritchard now or in the summer thread that Roy posted earlier when posted the full story from the Globe:

I guess his fear is that he might be out of the league if he withers away on the bench, especially given he's a small guard with limited utility and his production has been declining over his time in the league. Probably the fear of that happening outweighs the desire to win a champtionship even as a spectator on the bench. I can't be too critical of him. I think he will be alright though. On the bench at least. But his future in the league is probably a little murky unless someone takes a chance on him. As for it being news, I guess Washburn had written about his desire for a larger role pre-trade deadline, and Brad did try to move him (and Gallo) for Poeltl but the deal fell through, and then Washburn probably followed up after the deadline.

I always find it fascinating thinking about the motivations of end of benchers - the ones we don't always think about when we view players as commodities that make teams better or worse - those who are just trying to stay in the league, as opposed to the stars who are trying to win championships.  Like you might think "why don't you want to stay with the Cs? You could win a ring!" when he's just trying to keep his value up so that he stays in the league, not end up in the G-League or in China

It would be interesting to see ESPN make a 30 in 30 about a player like that, there's hundreds of Pritchards out there that are just trying to stay in the league, most with his minutes and production profile end up sliding out of the league sooner rather than later.

[CelticsWhat35]

The only way he’s getting significant playing time is on a team that’s actively tanking; if he’d prefer that to competing for playing time on a contender, that’s a loser mentality and even worse that he’s voicing it publicly

[Atzar]

As long as he continues to be a good teammate and continues to bust his ass in his opportunities, he can feel whatever way he wants. 

[W8ting2McHale]

Eh. It sounds like a follow up to what he said before the deadline. Hey Pritchard, how are you feeling now after the trade talk and not being moved?

[Roy H.]

As long as he continues to be a good teammate and continues to bust his ass in his opportunities, he can feel whatever way he wants.

I legitimately wonder, when a player openly seeks a trade during the season, is that being a good teammate?  Do players accept the “it’s a business” thing, or do players feel like the guy should be quiet?  Is it even a minor distraction?

I think that uniformly, I’ve thought that guys asking out 1) during the season and 2) under contract for the next season were being poor teammates.  Even when a guy is a pending free agent it’s a mixed bag (see Kyrie), but if it’s done between agent and management, it can also help a franchise out.

[letsgoblue86]

Sometimes it’s good not to be completely candid.  Saying it once, in a future sense?  Fine.  Saying it twice, and confirming that you’re disappointed that you weren’t moved off a title team?  That makes him seem disgruntled and selfish.

Keep it to yourself, PP.  your lousy play has already hurt your trade value.  Now you’re making yourself look like somebody most concerned about getting his.  That’s just going to make other teams less interested.

Agreed here, Roy. Definitely something better off unsaid. Doesn’t reflect towards his teammates or coach.

But I can’t fault him for feeling that way. He feels like he deserves more burn and minutes are hard to come by for him right now.

Oh, I get it.  Every player in the NBA probably has the ego and competitiveness to think they deserve a larger role.  And, I get wanting to change his situation; I’m sure we’ve all left jobs before.

I just don’t like going to the media multiple times, and openly expressing that you want out so much that you can’t wait four months to get your shot.  That’s especially true when you’re not playing well.  Instead of giving media interviews that can’t possibly help him or the team, Pritchard should be practicing his jumper.

Yeah for sure. Going to the media and saying it reflects poorly on him.
I’ll give him an excuse bc he is 25 yrs old. I don’t think his value in FA would change much if he was getting 30 min a game for Orlando though.

[SHAQATTACK]

I doubt all this noise helps his stock with Brad and owners .   Should have saved all this public comments till after the season .  Burning bridges before your even there yet  SMH

I don’t think he ll have to worry about being on the Celtics next season . Celtics Mgmt I believe have low tolerance for bench players running their yapper , especially when the team is playing well .

Has he been talking to Kyrie ?  Did Cryrie give him the whine flu.