Boston Celtics rookie point guard Payton Pritchard was billed as an NBA-ready player coming into his new home with the Celtics, and in their Tuesday night preseason debut against the Philadelphia 76ers on the road, the Oregon product did not disappoint.
The four-year collegiate player demonstrated his maturity and readiness sliding right into the team’s schema with ease. He was an aggressive defender with perpetually active hands, and moved the ball well on offense, finding new teammates Jeff Teague for an open trey and Robert Williams III for a a thunderous flush. All things being said, you couldn’t have reasonably asked for more.
Don’t take our word for it though — check out the highlight clip put together by Tomasz Kordylewski on Pritchard’s 16-point, 4-rebound, 2-assist debut for the Celtics in the video embedded above.
While it is still far too soon to say with certainty, it’s looking like Danny Ainge and the rest of the front office are looking pretty smart for taking the Oregon native at No. 26 in the 2020 NBA draft.
