The Anfernee Simons trade may have, as Brad Stevens put it, re-balanced the roster, but it left the Celtics short a ball-handler. Joe Mazzulla’s starting lineups included both Payton Pritchard and Derrick White up to that point, but since the move, Pritchard has come off the bench so the Celtics have a point guard on the floor at all times.
Starting versus coming off the bench can be a sensitive thing for basketball players, and a move to the bench can sometimes be seen as a demotion. But Pritchard took the move in stride.
“It puts another ball-handler off the bench,” Pritchard said after their win in Dallas. “And at the end of the day, it’s about, do you play starter minutes? Do you finish games? I don’t really care about starting. If you want me to start, I’ll start. If you want me to come off the bench, it doesn’t matter. It’s just about when you get in, what do you do with your minutes?”
What Pritchard has done so far is reminiscent of last year’s Sixth Man of the Year campaign. The sample size is obviously small this year, but the impact of him off the bench is still noticeable.
Starter
48 Games
32.6 min
16.8 ppg
4.3 rpg
5.3 apg
45.6% fg
35.2% 3pt
Bench
5 Games
33.6 min
21.8 ppg
3.0 rpg
6 apg
51.2% fg
39.5% 3pt
Pritchard has had a fine career with the Celtics, rising from a trade request because he wasn’t playing early in his career, to a contributor on a championship team. This season he started nearly three times as many games as he’d started the rest of his career combined. His raw numbers are at career-highs, even though the efficiency hasn’t been there.
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He’s a good player, but he’s obviously not a star. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown are the guys history will remember. They’re the ones chasing Larry Bird’s records. They’re the Hall of Famers, the guys who will come back to raise their numbers to the rafters in 20 years.
But Pritchard has a back door to greatness. Because on this franchise, a move to the bench suddenly puts a player in great company if he can thrive there.
The Celtics started the tradition of the Sixth Man. John Havlicek made an All-NBA team coming off the bench, kicking off a tradition that no other franchise can match. Frank Ramsey, Don Nelson, Kevin McHale, and Bill Walton are legends who also held the role.
Pritchard is 28 years old, squarely in his prime with at least a few more years of his best basketball ahead of him. He has one championship with this team already, and if he can win a second while owning a major role off the bench, then Pritchard has a bit of a shortcut into the room full of legends. His overall stats might not be enough to get him that status, but being great off the bench for an extended run could.
Personally, I’m a proponent of building a Boston Celtics Hall of Fame, so certain players can be recognized for their contributions without having to burn another number by retiring it. Pritchard will probably never do enough to get 11 retired, but he’d be a lock for a Celtics Hall of Fame induction if he thrives off the bench for three or four more seasons.
Obviously, Pritchard is one of the hardest working players around. His summer workouts are going to be part of his lore, so terms like shortcuts and back doors don’t imply that he’s cheating the system. He’s earning everything.
But becoming a Celtics legend isn’t an easy thing to do. Everyone in line has to earn their place there, but if he’s able to keep this work up off the bench, a bouncer might open up a side door and wave him in. Sixth men have a special place in Celtics history, and Pritchard has a chance to join the group as one of the best.
