Payton Pritchard is set to replace Jaylen as #2 option

[rondohondo]

I honestly think Pp has another level he can reach as a player. I was just looking up his isolation numbers from last year , he has a historic year.

Payton Pritchard: Elite EfficiencyPoints Per Possession (PPP): ~1.30, one of the most efficient single-season isolation marks in the last decade.

Field Goal Percentage: Shot an incredible 63.5% on isolation attempts.

Volume: Low volume (~1.8 iso attempts per game). Fans on Reddit acknowledge his historic efficiency but note his sample size is much smaller compared to traditional high-usage stars

.

Along with that PP is actually a much more efficient play maker with an assist to turn over ratio of 3.7 compared to JB's 1.4


Of course you can say that Brown is more durable and faced better defenders with a much heavier load and you'd be right, but we don't need PP to be that guy as we have Tatum.

I just seem PP as a much better facilitator of an offensive scheme, which is why I think he will take another jump this season becoming the #2 option next to JT.

So whatever you get back for JB would be helping fill out the rest of the roster while getting younger and about 80% of JB's production back.

[Donoghus]

Then expect this team to make a sizeable step backwards if PP is the #2 option.

[Who]

Wasn't PP the 2nd option last season already?

What I mean is - don't we already know what Pritchard can and cannot do as a #2 option? Because we didn't have Tatum. PP had his chance. He showed us what he can do.

[Who]

I am enamoured with this zTS% statistic. I haven't figured out all its positives and negatives but it sure is interesting. So the carry on from the PP numbers above in isolations ...

Pritchard's rTS% rises from +0.5% (over league average) to +3.0% zTS% when you take into account his shot profile.

So 80% of Pritchard's shots either came in self-creation or in spacing situations. The other 20% is split between transition offense and finishing. Pritchard gets few of these attempts.

The self-creation is interesting. Pritchard has average around 4.5-5.0 FGA per 36 minutes in the previous 4 seasons (20th-30th percentile). Last season, that number spiked to 9.3 FGA which ranks in the 66th percentile for most self-creation. He was in the 70th percentile 3 years ago & 80th percentile this year for efficiency in self-creation. He actually finished in the 98th percentile two years ago for efficiency but again the volume was much lower in previous years than this past season.

Pritchard also rates highly in spacing shot attempts which you would expect given his shooting prowess. He is among the league leaders in volume of spacing shots ranking around the 90th percentile consistently for the last 5 years. He also rates favourably in accuracy / efficiency. He had a standout year 2 years ago where he rated in the 98th percentile. He has finished at 80th, 70th, 80th, 87th percentile in 4 of the other previous 5 years. One down year at 48th percentile.

https://databallr.com/stats/player/payton-pritchard/1630202

Anyway, interesting numbers to add on to what the OP is saying about Pritchard's isolation prowess last year. Numbers in the TS% page of the player profile.

[keevsnick]

Pritchard is 28 years old, he's turn 29 in January of this next year; in all likelihood he is what he is. He's a good player; he's one of the best 6th men in the league and could be a solid starter for a good team. But if you're asking him to be the 2nd option for a team that team isn't winning anything. He's best as a third option who can attack specific matchups and bomb threes in second units.

We saw him get the opportunity to be a 2nd option last year, he was right there with Derick White in USG (21.4% vs 21%), he played well. I'm not sure getting a ton more USG would really benefit him.

[rondohondo]

Here we go!

[Who]

Hahaha ... this made me smile.

Good stuff. Take your shot PP.

[jambr380]

Let's get that $22.5M/yr contract extension signed and hope for the best!

[Celtics2021]

Is not Paul George supposed to be the number 2 option?  He still scored more points per possession than Pritchard last year.

[Who]

Is not Paul George supposed to be the number 2 option?  He still scored more points per possession than Pritchard last year.

I don't think this team has a 2nd option.

We have 3 guys all around the same level. PG13, D White, Pritchard. None of them are good enough to be a 2nd option. Debatable whether they are even good enough to be a 3rd option. Maybe with 2 mega-scorers. All 3 guys are really 4th options.

We have three 4th options behind Tatum.

And then a bunch of offensively limited defensive minded hustle guys (Queta, M Robinson, Hugo, J Walsh) and a one dimensional spot up shooter in Hauser. That is the offense.

[Who]

More data to backup Rondohondo's Pritchard theory

Pritchard's stats with Jaylen on the court vs Pritchard's stats with Jaylen not on the court. Huge difference.



Man, that picture is huge. Here is a link

In 10 games this season without Brown in uniform, Pritchard elevated his game to all-league levels. The 28-year-old averaged 25.2 points, 7 assists and 4.8 rebounds while shooting 51.3% on 2s and 44.4% on 3s. Notably, the Celtics went 8-2 in those games.

[Ilikesports17]

Is not Paul George supposed to be the number 2 option?  He still scored more points per possession than Pritchard last year.

I don't think this team has a 2nd option.

We have 3 guys all around the same level. PG13, D White, Pritchard. None of them are good enough to be a 2nd option. Debatable whether they are even good enough to be a 3rd option. Maybe with 2 mega-scorers. All 3 guys are really 4th options.

We have three 4th options behind Tatum.

And then a bunch of offensively limited defensive minded hustle guys (Queta, M Robinson, Hugo, J Walsh) and a one dimensional spot up shooter in Hauser. That is the offense.

Last year we had the same thing except we swapped Jaylen for Tatum and didnt even have Paul George. We had the second highest offensive rating in the NBA.

[Celtics4ever]

If you look at the defense stats I would wager that we are better with Jaylen on the floor in most cases.

[DefenseWinsChamps]

Is not Paul George supposed to be the number 2 option?  He still scored more points per possession than Pritchard last year.

I don't think this team has a 2nd option.

We have 3 guys all around the same level. PG13, D White, Pritchard. None of them are good enough to be a 2nd option. Debatable whether they are even good enough to be a 3rd option. Maybe with 2 mega-scorers. All 3 guys are really 4th options.

We have three 4th options behind Tatum.

And then a bunch of offensively limited defensive minded hustle guys (Queta, M Robinson, Hugo, J Walsh) and a one dimensional spot up shooter in Hauser. That is the offense.

That's unreasonably negative. At worst all three guys are good 3rd options.

[jambr380]

If you look at the defense stats I would wager that we are better with Jaylen on the floor in most cases.

I don't think you want to look at Jaylen's defensive stats then. When he was on the floor, the defense was considerably worse than when he was off. Jaylen can lock in 1-on-1 when required, but he is a bad off-ball defensive player and he can get lazy when carrying a heavier offensive load.

Pritchard is pretty much our only POA defender at the guard position (Hugo and Walsh are also solid, but they are wings). I will not try to make the argument that Pritchard is better than Jaylen, but Pritchard is a really good player in his role. And he has the ability to expand his role.