ROXBURY, Mass. – How will the Celtics fare subsequent yr?
The time period ‘Hole Yr’ has been utilized by the media and followers alike to explain the upcoming NBA season, on condition that Jayson Tatum is anticipated to be sidelined as he recovers from a ruptured Achilles.
Along with Tatum, the Celtics misplaced 4 rotation gamers this summer season: Jrue Vacation (Portland Path Blazers), Kristaps Porzingis (Atlanta Hawks), Luke Kornet (San Antonio Spurs), and Al Horford (who is anticipated to signal with the Golden State Warriors).
What stays is a roster that also boasts three of the crew’s high 5 scorers from final season – Jaylen Brown, Derrick White, and Payton Pritchard – and younger, however extra unproven expertise like Jordan Walsh, Baylor Scheierman, and Neemias Queta, amongst others.
As such, few count on the Celtics to be within the combine for a playoff run. FanDuel’s betting odds have them profitable round 42 video games subsequent season, whereas NBA.com’s offseason energy rankings mission the Celtics would be the fourth-worst crew within the Japanese Convention.
However Pritchard isn’t shopping for the favored notion that the Celtics are punting the season. In truth, he expects the crew to as soon as once more contend for a championship, as wild as which will sound to some on the skin.
“There’s just one mindset, at all times – I’ve by no means been on any crew in my life the place the mindset wasn’t to attempt to compete for the championship,” Pritchard informed CelticsBlog on Saturday, at a 1-on-1 basketball tournament he hosted in Roxbury. “Folks can say hole yr and all that, however as a competitor, that ought to by no means be it, and that’s not the mindset of town of Boston, both.”
Celtics crew president Wealthy Gotham mentioned he appreciates Pritchard’s outlook on the upcoming yr.
“I simply adore it,” Gotham mentioned. “Payton’s a fighter. He has a chip on his shoulder – he’s like, ‘Nobody’s going to inform us we’re not competing for a championship. That’s what we’re going to do.’And I adore it. That breeds confidence.”
Payton Pritchard might be a starter for the primary time in his NBA profession — however he’s not anxious about it
How the Celtics’ season will play out subsequent season is one main query.
How Pritchard’s particular person marketing campaign will play out in a second.
The 27-year-old is recent off a Sixth Man of the Yr marketing campaign wherein he averaged 14.3 factors, 3.8 rebounds, and three.5 assists, taking pictures 47.2% from the sector and 40.7% from three. It was a large leap from the yr prior, and it was the primary time in his profession that he was a constant scoring possibility.
Subsequent season, he might turn out to be a full-time starter for the primary time in his NBA profession.
Or, the Celtics might elect to begin Anfernee Simons, the proficient scorer they acquired from the Path Blazers this summer season. Simons, who has averaged 19.3 factors per recreation in his profession, has began each recreation he’s performed in for the previous three seasons.
The conundrum has triggered followers to hotly debate which guard ought to begin.
However Pritchard, for one, stays unconcerned: “It doesn’t matter to me.”
“A whole lot of issues can change in a yr – you can begin a few video games, you can not,” he mentioned. “For me, it’s about controlling what I can management – and that’s coming into video games and altering the sport, and being an unbelievable participant and serving to my crew win. In order that’s the one factor I’m targeted on, ever. It’s not about accolades, it’s not about beginning or something like that. It’s about: how can I turn out to be the perfect participant attainable?”
Pritchard mentioned he’s at all times had that mindset, even when he was youthful — awards, accolades, and even beginning positions simply didn’t matter. That perspective finally resulted in him incomes Sixth Man of the Yr final season, however extra importantly, it helped him turn out to be a profitable participant.
“I noticed that’s the way you make extra progress – specializing in the issues you’ll be able to concentrate on, fairly than awards and stuff like that,” he mentioned. “Like, ‘Oh, I’m chasing these numbers to be an All-Star.’ That’s simply not who I’m and by no means will likely be.”
How subsequent yr performs out for the Celtics is anyone’s guess
If the roster stays wholesome – and gamers like Pritchard, White, and Brown put collectively profession years – the crew might exceed expectations in a wide-open East. Offseason acquisitions Anfernee Simons, Luka Garza, Josh Minnott, and Chris Boucher additionally stay wildcards.
The latter three, all of whom are on minimal offers, don’t come into the season with large expectations, however any might capitalize on the large alternative at hand.
Pritchard thinks that Boucher, his former College of Oregon teammate in 2016, was a very nice pickup.
“He’s a high-energy man,” Pritchard mentioned. “The performs he’ll have the ability to make are unbelievable at instances. I do keep in mind one factor from faculty – he by no means will get drained, so we should always undoubtedly use that, him operating the ground.”
“I believe he’ll match splendidly, and we undoubtedly want him.”
The Celtics might be completed making strikes. Or, a number of extra might be in retailer. Simons is one man who might be out the door; because the day he was acquired, he has been embroiled in commerce rumors, and the crew stays above the posh tax. Hauser is one other identify that has surfaced in conversations across the crew’s potential offseason wage shedding.
No matter what the ultimate roster appears to be like like, Pritchard made one factor clear: the group’s intention is to shock the world and much exceed expectations.
And that’s not even one thing that must be said.
“It’s not a spot yr,” he mentioned. “It’s a yr to show [something], take a step, and present those that we’re nonetheless that crew.”
“We’ll put the items collectively. And we’ll come out and compete, and attempt to win each recreation, and put collectively a terrific season – and go for a championship.”
