In Saturday night’s win against the Brooklyn Nets. Payton Pritchard hit a three-pointer in the right corner to put the Celtics up 10 points with 6:00 remaining in the game — another dagger to add to Pritchard’s resume from the 2024-2025 season. Ir set an NBA record for the most three-pointers made off the bench in a single season, a record that could give Pritchard the edge in a tight Sixth Man of the Year race.
Payton Pritchard has developed into one of the league’s most potent weapons. He’s tied with Jayson Tatum for fifth in the NBA for three-pointers attempted per 75 possessions, behind only Buddy Hield, Malik Beasley, Steph Curry, and LaMelo Ball. Pritchard ranks second amongst them in three-point percentage at 41.5%. 6MofY candidate Malik Beasley leads the group at 42.1%. Pritchard has played in 67 games this season and hit at least five three-pointers in 21 of those games. He’s an outrageous weapon to be coming off the bench for an already historically dominant Boston Celtic offense.
It’s not hard to pinpoint my favorite Payton Pritchard performance of the season. It happened earlier this month when he joined Derrick White in dropping 40 points on the heads of the Portland Trail Blazers, a game in which Pritchard poured in TEN three-pointers and with White, became the only teammates in Celtics history to drop 40 points in a single game. Oh, and don’t forget White and Pritchard also became the only teammates in NBA history to bang in nine three-pointers each in a single game, a feat not even Steph Curry and Klay Thompson were able to achieve. An honorable mention to when Pritchard dropped 28 points on the Milwaukee Bucks in the first week of the season, 19 of which came in the first half, which helped power the Celtics to their clean sweep of the Bucks this season.
Pritchard is on the court and in the NBA for one reason: he puts the orange ball in the basket, but it shouldn’t get lost that Pritchard has improved drastically as a defender, playmaker, and rebounder since entering the league. Every night, top scorers around the league see six-foot-one Payton Pritchard and think it’s time to eat. They often leave hungry. Pritchard will make you work for every bucket. Not to mention Pritchard has developed into a prolific offensive rebounder for his size and position.
Before looking into the other candidates for Sixth Man of the Year, I was far more confident that Pritchard had the award locked up. I had just been tracking the betting odds, where Pritchard is a heavy favorite. But when I looked into the numbers of the other candidates, I was rocked in my previous steadfast belief that Pritchard was a shoe-in. Let’s compare Pritchard to other candidates:
I’ve laid out both the raw numbers and the numbers per 75 possessions to give us a look at what it would like if all the candidates were playing the same number of possessions per game.
Payton Pritchard
28 minutes per game – 0 games as a starter – 14 points, 3.7 rebounds, 3.4 assists – 63.8% true shooting
Per 75 possessions – 18.7 points, 4.9 rebounds, 4.5 assists
Ty Jerome
19.5 minutes per game – 2 games as a starter – 11.9 points, 2.6 rebounds, 3.3 assists – 63.6% true shooting
Per 75 possessions – 21.9 points, 4.8 rebounds, 6.1 assists
Naz Reid
28 Minutes per game – 17 games as a starter – 14.7 points, 6.1 rebounds, 2.2 assists – 58.3% true shooting
Per 75 possessions – 19.4 points, 8.1 rebounds, 2.9 assists
Malik Beasley:
27.4 Minutes per game – 14 games as a starter – 16.3 points, 2.7 rebounds, 1.7 assists – 59.9% true shooting
Per 75 possessions – 21.4 points, 3.6 rebounds, 2.2 assists
The tricky part with all of the season long awards, is that there is no real criteria. It’s why every season the MVP discourse divulges into chaos. There is no rubric. Which is fun, but also torturous for fans who are convinced that their criteria is the correct criteria.
It’s easy to group Pritchard, Jerome, and Beasley into one bucket as microwave scoring guards off the bench. All three of them are having explosive scoring seasons. The Sixth Man of the Year award is typically awarded to the player who provides the most scoring off the bench.
It’s easy for me to remove Beasley; he’s the least efficient and the least well rounded of the three. Beasley is the worst defender, playmaker and rebounder. Easy cut.
Jerome and Pritchard are near impossible to parse. I’ll give the edge to Pritchard for his defense and offensive rebounding. But if we’re going to get technical about it, Pritchard and Jerome have actually been full time bench players for the Celtics and Cavs respectively, while both Naz Reid and Malik Beasley have juiced their numbers with double digit starts.
However, if we’re giving the award to the best player who came off the bench for the majority of the season, the award should go to Naz Reid. I understand the scoring efficiency isn’t at the same level as Pritchard and Jerome, but getting that level of scoring versatility and spacing from the center position is so valuable in today’s NBA. On top of the raw production, Naz helped keep the Timberwolves afloat while half the roster dealt with injuries. The Wolves would simply be lost without Reid, while the Celtics, Cavs, and Pistons could survive absences from Pritchard, Jerome, and Beasley.
Whoever wins the award will be deserving and whether or not Pritchard wins, it won’t change the fact that Danny Ainge’s last gift to the Boston Celtics was a flamethrower.
