Welcome to Boston, Payton Pritchard! – (Re-signed: 4yrs/$30M)

[Scoonie]

PP needs to be getting 20+ minutes a night, even when Kemba comes back. I'd ideally like to see him get more than that, like he did last night.

Outside of his scoring ability, he's a good passer who makes good decisions.

[Gomes3PC]

Finally, Ainge drafts an undersized point guard that's actually good.

Minor point but he's really not undersized at all.

A PG with a 6-4.5" wingspan is a bit undersized at this point in the league. He's very quick but has subpar vertical lift as well, so it will limit his ability to get easy looks in the paint and freebies at the line. Overall, his degree of difficulty on a shot is going to be pretty darn high, but he's a good shooter and good facilitator so it's not a death knell or something for him.

The one thing I'd like to see him do is work on his lower body. He's got a strong chest it looks like but building a stronger base should let him finish through contact better. Like all college kids, he'll benefit from a full (hopefully normal) offseason to work on his body.

[Theocy]

I was going to check first 10 games for each of the following and compare

Jaylen
Tatum
PP

I assume he has a better star than Brown, but Tatum had 2 20+ games in his first 10 games in rookie year. Still PP probably reached 23 points before any of the two did?

Edit: jaylen was averaging about 7 ppg in his first 10 games. Tatum was closer to 15ppg.
Jaylen had 1 20+ game in year 1. Tatum had 12 games (highest being 27 points).

I dont think PP has the potential of those two (he is already 22 at the age of Tatum) but still not a bad start at all.

[Scoonie]

I was going to check first 10 games for each of the following and compare

Jaylen
Tatum
PP

I assume he has a better star than Brown, but Tatum had 2 20+ games in his first 10 games in rookie year. Still PP probably reached 23 points before any of the two did?

Tatum had 22 points in his 4th career game, and 20 in his 6th career game. Didn't hit 23 or more until the 53rd game of that season:

https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/t/tatumja01/gamelog/2018/

[Theocy]

I was going to check first 10 games for each of the following and compare

Jaylen
Tatum
PP

I assume he has a better star than Brown, but Tatum had 2 20+ games in his first 10 games in rookie year. Still PP probably reached 23 points before any of the two did?

Tatum had 22 points in his 4th career game, and 20 in his 6th career game. Didn't hit 23 or more until the 53rd game of that season:

https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/t/tatumja01/gamelog/2018/

I'm gonna scratch your back and say between the 2 of us we did a more thorough analysis of this guy than 95% of tweeter reporters

[bucknersrevenge]

Finally, Ainge drafts an undersized point guard that's actually good.

Minor point but he's really not undersized at all.

A PG with a 6-4.5" wingspan is a bit undersized at this point in the league. He's very quick but has subpar vertical lift as well, so it will limit his ability to get easy looks in the paint and freebies at the line. Overall, his degree of difficulty on a shot is going to be pretty darn high, but he's a good shooter and good facilitator so it's not a death knell or something for him.

The one thing I'd like to see him do is work on his lower body. He's got a strong chest it looks like but building a stronger base should let him finish through contact better. Like all college kids, he'll benefit from a full (hopefully normal) offseason to work on his body.

He's 6'2 and close to 200 lbs. Does "undersized" now mean something else? I never referred to wingspan as having to do anything with size. People pointed to wingspan as a counterpoint to size.

[JJHondo17]

P-Rabbit - He's the reason no one else will ever wear #11

[hickfromfrenchlick]

Minor point but he's really not undersized at all.

A PG with a 6-4.5" wingspan is a bit undersized at this point in the league. He's very quick but has subpar vertical lift as well, so it will limit his ability to get easy looks in the paint and freebies at the line. Overall, his degree of difficulty on a shot is going to be pretty darn high, but he's a good shooter and good facilitator so it's not a death knell or something for him.

The one thing I'd like to see him do is work on his lower body. He's got a strong chest it looks like but building a stronger base should let him finish through contact better. Like all college kids, he'll benefit from a full (hopefully normal) offseason to work on his body.

He's 6'2 and close to 200 lbs. Does "undersized" now mean something else? I never referred to wingspan as having to do anything with size. People pointed to wingspan as a counterpoint to size.

All semantics, I guess.

I think a lot of people see wingspan as being more important than height if you're talking about "size." A 6'9" center isn't "undersized" if his wingspan is longer than the average 7-footer's.

[Gomes3PC]

Yes. Rondo isn't undersized at PG because he's got a 6-9 wingspan. And 6-2 is small for PGs now - look at the PGs in the East

Trae - 6-1
Kyrie - 6-2
Graham - 6-2
White - 6-5
Garland - 6-1
Hayes - 6-5
Brogdon - 6-5
Herro - 6-5
Holiday - 6-3
Payton - 6-4
Fultz - 6-4
Simmons - 6-10
Lowry - 6-1
Westbrook - 6-3

9 of the starters are 6-3 or taller, and almost all these guys have even bigger wingspans.

So yeah, he's slightly undersized but not to the point of it being a hindrance to success. A guy like Waters at 5-11 and a 6-2 wingspan is really where you see that they may just never be an NBA regular at that size.

[BigTrade92]

While Kemba is on the shelf, this kid needs to start. Period.

Enough with the Teague and Waters experiments.

[zoyathedestroya]

Read on Twitter

These cutoffs are super dumb and I just love it!

[Bleeding Green]

How the hell does he already have three blocks? He had one block in his last college season; seven total in 4 years.

[hickfromfrenchlick]

Read on Twitter

These cutoffs are super dumb and I just love it!

May as well have thrown in a "Have an R in their last names" while they were at it

[Celtics_85]

Love this kid, but for us to compete in playoffs we need his fresh legs. 20 -24 minutes a night is plenty for the gruel of the NBA season.

[Justin33]

How the hell does he already have three blocks? He had one block in his last college season; seven total in 4 years.

Combination of underestimating/disrespect and he doen't have to worry about fouls as he did in college

[Half-Full]

Minor point but he's really not undersized at all.

A PG with a 6-4.5" wingspan is a bit undersized at this point in the league. He's very quick but has subpar vertical lift as well, so it will limit his ability to get easy looks in the paint and freebies at the line. Overall, his degree of difficulty on a shot is going to be pretty darn high, but he's a good shooter and good facilitator so it's not a death knell or something for him.

The one thing I'd like to see him do is work on his lower body. He's got a strong chest it looks like but building a stronger base should let him finish through contact better. Like all college kids, he'll benefit from a full (hopefully normal) offseason to work on his body.

He's 6'2 and close to 200 lbs. Does "undersized" now mean something else? I never referred to wingspan as having to do anything with size. People pointed to wingspan as a counterpoint to size.

Wouldn't it be nice to have a talented PG who is 6'5" or 6'6"? Yes, I suppose it would be. But let's not lose sight of the fact that the league has seen some very talented PGs who were "only" 6'2" (or shorter). No need to name names. Payton Pritchard may have sub-par vertical lift, but he compensates for that with his craftiness and his control. In the eight games the Celtics have played, Payton has shown that he can take the ball into the paint and score. He also has shown that he can facilitate, and that he can shoot. Sure, early days, but there is no denying the confidence he has, and that confidence is based on skills that he has worked hard to develop. At 6'2", Payton is considered average height for an NBA PG. Whatever his shortcomings are, one must consider the whole package of skills that he brings. Thus far, it looks like he is a very good player.

[Gomes3PC]

While Kemba is on the shelf, this kid needs to start. Period.

Enough with the Teague and Waters experiments.

The best thing about Kemba's return will be no more Teague. That was a complete swing and miss by Ainge. That said, for $2.5M or less, there wasn't much else out there. Not sure Raul Neto or someone like that changes the picture of this roster much.

[24istheLAW]

While Kemba is on the shelf, this kid needs to start. Period.

Enough with the Teague and Waters experiments.

The best thing about Kemba's return will be no more Teague. That was a complete swing and miss by Ainge. That said, for $2.5M or less, there wasn't much else out there. Not sure Raul Neto or someone like that changes the picture of this roster much.

I think Teague has a place on the team. He's a liability defensively in the context of the roster, but he's a good change-of-pace. If Pritchard didn't look like a baller, we'd be relying heavily on the vet PG we signed. And like you said, I'm not sure if they could have done much better. I do like Neto more personally but I get why you'd pick Teague.

Meanwhile the real hole is on the wing and vet wings are in much greater demand than vet PGs. Batum is the guy I'm looking at thinking they could have made a difference on the cheap, and he chose the Clips who have better title odds than us.

[Ernest]

A PG with a 6-4.5" wingspan is a bit undersized at this point in the league. He's very quick but has subpar vertical lift as well, so it will limit his ability to get easy looks in the paint and freebies at the line. Overall, his degree of difficulty on a shot is going to be pretty darn high, but he's a good shooter and good facilitator so it's not a death knell or something for him.

The one thing I'd like to see him do is work on his lower body. He's got a strong chest it looks like but building a stronger base should let him finish through contact better. Like all college kids, he'll benefit from a full (hopefully normal) offseason to work on his body.

He's 6'2 and close to 200 lbs. Does "undersized" now mean something else? I never referred to wingspan as having to do anything with size. People pointed to wingspan as a counterpoint to size.

All semantics, I guess.

I think a lot of people see wingspan as being more important than height if you're talking about "size." A 6'9" center isn't "undersized" if his wingspan is longer than the average 7-footer's.

Yes he is.


Anyways the great thing about Prichard is he is playing well right from the start. We have a solid player under cheap contract for a long time.

[Curmudgeon]

I think Teague has a place on the team. He's a liability defensively in the context of the roster, but he's a good change-of-pace.

I must be watching a different Jeff Teague than you've been watching. I think he's fine on defense-- undersized, but he gets a fair number of steals which turn into transition baskets. But on offense he dribbles too damn much. Thinks he's Kyrie Irving lite. I keep screaming at him: "Do something! Pass it or shoot it or drive it, but stop playing with the ball." His three point shooting has been ok, but he doesn't seem to know what to do in Stevens' offense.

I'm fine with Pritchard and Waters sharing the point with Smart until Kemba is ready.