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Once you lose a key participant within the offseason, the query stays: who fills that manufacturing gap? The s don’t appear to fret about this conundrum in any respect. With Jaylen Brown gone, they’ve crammed all of the gaps by committee. Hugo Gonzalez and Baylor Scheierman get to play each ends with hustle. Paul George nonetheless has that fringe NBA All-Star high quality and might shoot the lights out. Nonetheless, Coach Joe Mazzulla is a key participant. It's none apart from Payton Pritchard. The Celtics head coach has all the assumption of their guard and even famous particular traits that can make him useful to the squad led by Jayson Tatum.
Celtics' Mazzulla outlines key Pritchard traits that can assist Tatum-led squad
For a very long time, just a few monoliths have d. He's been seen because the Celtics' offensive spark plug, or the man you give the ball to within the clutch. Now, he shall be up for greater roles in Coach Joe Mazzulla's system because of the Jaylen Brown commerce.
There are clearly lots of doubts about Pritchard. A lot of it stems from the truth that he's an undersized guard and the operating perception that he could possibly be a defensive legal responsibility. Coach Mazzulla doesn’t suppose that manner in any respect. In reality, the Celtics head honcho outlined what made their veteran guard particular. Those self same traits o make a giant distinction on a crew centered round Jayson Tatum, in accordance with Jay King of The Athletic.
"He simply performs with a chip on his shoulder, however doesn’t have an ego. And I feel that’s a steadiness that’s troublesome for folks to have the ability to have. Like, for those who inform him he’s beginning, for those who inform him he’s coming off the bench, for those who inform him he’s taking part in 20 (minutes), for those who inform him he’s taking part in 30, the chip on his shoulder by no means adjustments. He doesn’t want the affirmation to be an elite competitor. And so I feel a coach that provides you the liberty to only do what makes essentially the most sense at that exact time," the Celtics head coach declared.
Mazzulla intently describes Pritchard as what folks would name a Swiss Military Knife within the NBA. To this point, the Celtics guard has been proving precisely that throughout the preseason.
Payton Pritchard 2026 preseason tape — 16 PPG, 9 APG, 4 complete turnovers. https://t.co/D2hsp7egzm
— Celtics Performances (@BestOfCeltics0) 6
Pritchard has performed two video games s, and it has panned out properly. Coach Mazzulla has entrusted him with a median of 26.9 minutes. That has led to him averaging 16 factors on 43.5% from the sector, 50% from three, and 100% from the road. The most important shock? Pritchard is shelling out 9 assists. This might shock NBA watchers and even Celtics followers. On high of that, he's grabbing 3.5 rebounds an evening.
There are nonetheless some pitfalls like Pritchard's two turnovers per sport however that's not a trigger for concern. The Celtics registered 12.4 turnovers per sport, the least within the NBA for the 2025-26 season. These worries could be patched up.
All that issues is that Tatum, Coach Mazzulla, and the remainder of the Celtics have expressed lots of belief in Pritchard. He’ll ship, identical to he at all times does.
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