Payton Pritchard

After being selected with the 26th pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, many were surprised with Pritchard's production during his rookie season. Among all rookies, the guard finished seventh in total three-pointers, 13th in points and 14th in both assists and minutes played. His strong play enabled Boston to part ways with Jeff Teague mid-season. In the off-season, Boston dealt Kemba Walker to the Thunder but then added Dennis Schroder on a one-year deal. Heading into training camp, the Celtics' backcourt roles are undefined. Will Schroder start at PG as he did for the Lakers or come off the bench in an instant offense role as he did for OKC in 2019-20? Will Marcus Smart start as the shooting guard, as he often did last year, or will he be the starting point guard? Regardless, the late addition of Schroder closes what looked like a big opportunity for Pritchard after the Walker trade. With that said, Pritchard's stats reflect more of a shooting guard's output, despite his point guard designation. Last year, Pritchard dished 1.8 assists and drained 1.5 threes per game while shooting 41.1 percent from behind the arc. Coming off of a strong showing in Summer League, look for Pritchard to attempt to improve upon last season's 19.2 minutes per game.

Pritchard enters a situation in Boston where he is staring up at two veteran point guards on the Boston Celtic depth chart. The rookie (26th pick) certainly will not eat into star Kemba Walker's playing time. So that leaves newly signed 32-year-old veteran Jeff Teague as Pritchard's main competition for playing time. More likely, the addition of Teague gives Pritchard some time to learn to ropes. We also probably shouldn't brush aside 2019 second-round pick Carsen Edwards, though Edwards missed his golden opportunity last season to provide some scoring punch of the bench. Pritchard shot 41.5 percent from behind the arc during his senior season at Oregon. That accuracy, as well as his 20.5 points per game, clearly caught general manager Danny Ainge's attention. As in 2019-20, Boston is looking at a reserve squad that lacks a quick points-off-the-bench option. If Pritchard can get hot early, he may earn some meaningful minutes. If not, which is more likely, he'll probably learn his trade via some quality time with the G League Maine Red Claws.