Jason Burgos
A prominent NBA insider believes the rumors that the Boston Celtics believe sixth man Payton Pritchard can be the next Jalen Brunson are laughable at best.
It has been a little over a week since the Celtics traded MVP contender Jaylen Brown to rivals the Philadelphia 76ers. Sending him to the team that eliminated them in this year’s playoffs was shocking in its own right. However, after rumors claimed Boston was looking for four first-round picks in a trade, only getting back Paul George, two first-round picks, and two second-round draft picks was even more befuddling.
In the days since, the Celtics have done damage control, and during a recent press conference to talk about the trade, team president Brad Stevens claims roster “optionality” was a major reason why they moved one of the best players in franchise history during his prime.
However, before Stevens’ questionable at-best excuse, Yahoo Sports NBA expert Tom Haberstroh offered up another reason why the Celtics were willing to move Brown. “The Celtics trading Brown is a bet that Pritchard is their in-house version of New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson,” he reported last week.
Well, veteran NBA insider Zach Lowe weighed in on the idea that the 2024-25 Sixth Man of the Year can be as good as the Knicks superstar, and he isn’t buying what Boston or Haberstroh are selling.
“Please miss me with the Boston thinks Payton Pritchard is going to be Jalen Brunson talk. Did you just see Jalen Brunson? Just see what that dude did in the Finals? I love Payton Pritchard. He’s not going to be Jalen Brunson.”
– Zach Lowe
Haberstroh did offer up some interesting data on why the Celtics are so high on Pritchard. He noted that in 10 games without Brown, Pritchard averaged 25 points, 7 assists, and just under 5 rebounds while shooting 44% from three. And Boston went 8-2 in those games. He was also great in isolation and had a 57.7% effective field-goal percentage. That was second among 63 players with at least 100 isolation plays last season. Furthermore, he had a season even better than 2024-25 this past campaign.
However, Lowe isn’t a believer that he can eventually match what the Knicks star has done to become one of the top players in the NBA over the last few years. And he is likely not in the minority. Especially after watching this year’s playoffs.
