Payton Pritchard 6MOY Watch

[mspring]

I posted on Celtics Blog when Pritchard was a rookie, I am not savvy with this site to find it, comparing Prichard to John Stockton and Steve Nash out of college.  All 3 were 4 year college player, similar size etc.  I know it sounded outlandlish at the time to compare him to 2 HOF players, but it you compare their stats through their first 5 seasons, they are very similar, especially compared to Nash, less assists than Stockton but scoring comparable.  As he keeps growing as a player, does anyone else see these as comparable?  Too early to tell?

[BitterJim]

I posted on Celtics Blog when Pritchard was a rookie, I am not savvy with this site to find it, comparing Prichard to John Stockton and Steve Nash out of college.  All 3 were 4 year college player, similar size etc.  I know it sounded outlandlish at the time to compare him to 2 HOF players, but it you compare their stats through their first 5 seasons, they are very similar, especially compared to Nash, less assists than Stockton but scoring comparable.  As he keeps growing as a player, does anyone else see these as comparable?  Too early to tell?

Here's a link to that post, it was one of your most recent posts so easy to find from your profile:

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!

I don't see Pritchard ever getting close to either of this two, but it's an interesting comp. But considering how far he's come as a player it looks like a good call to say that had lots of upside despite being a 4 year guy

[mspring]

In year 5 Steve Nash averaged 15.6 points per game and 7.3 assists per game.  It was his first season as a full-time starter (70) games.  In year 5 Pritchard is averaging 16.2 points per game.  His assists are quite a bit less at 2.9 but he also isn't the starting point guard and doesn't play point guard most of the time off the bench, although he had 8 assists last game.  I think he has the potential to average a lot more assists if he ends up being a starter and has the ball in his hands more.  In Stockton's 5th year he averaged 17.1 points per game and 13.6 assists and it was his second season as a full-time starter.  I think at the very least Prichard is on pace with them both offensively and has potential to be a higher scorer than both, the assists are definitely less, but I think they will come up over time and if he becomes a starter.  We will see!