ROXBURY, Mass. – How will the Celtics fare next year?
The term ‘Gap Year’ has been used by the media and fans alike to describe the upcoming NBA season, given that Jayson Tatum is expected to be sidelined as he recovers from a ruptured Achilles.
In addition to Tatum, the Celtics lost four rotation players this summer: Jrue Holiday (Portland Trail Blazers), Kristaps Porzingis (Atlanta Hawks), Luke Kornet (San Antonio Spurs), and Al Horford (who is expected to sign with the Golden State Warriors).
What remains is a roster that still boasts three of the team’s top five scorers from last season – Jaylen Brown, Derrick White, and Payton Pritchard – and young, but more unproven talent like Jordan Walsh, Baylor Scheierman, and Neemias Queta, among others.
As such, few expect the Celtics to be in the mix for a playoff run. FanDuel’s betting odds have them winning around 42 games next season, while NBA.com’s offseason power rankings project the Celtics will be the fourth-worst team in the Eastern Conference.
But Pritchard isn’t buying the popular notion that the Celtics are punting the season. In fact, he expects the team to once again contend for a championship, as wild as that may sound to some on the outside.
“There’s only one mindset, always – I’ve never been on any team in my life where the mindset wasn’t to try to compete for the championship,” Pritchard told CelticsBlog on Saturday, at a 1-on-1 basketball tournament he hosted in Roxbury. “People can say gap year and all that, but as a competitor, that should never be it, and that’s not the mindset of the city of Boston, either.”
Celtics team president Rich Gotham said he appreciates Pritchard’s outlook on the upcoming year.
“I just love it,” Gotham said. “Payton’s a fighter. He has a chip on his shoulder – he’s like, ‘No one’s going to tell us we’re not competing for a championship. That’s what we’re going to do.’And I love it. That breeds confidence.”
Payton Pritchard could be a starter for the first time in his NBA career — but he’s not worried about it
How the Celtics’ season will play out next season is one major question.
How Pritchard’s individual campaign will play out in a second.
The 27-year-old is fresh off a Sixth Man of the Year campaign in which he averaged 14.3 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 3.5 assists, shooting 47.2% from the field and 40.7% from three. It was a massive leap from the year prior, and it was the first time in his career that he was a consistent scoring option.
Next season, he could become a full-time starter for the first time in his NBA career.
Or, the Celtics could elect to start Anfernee Simons, the talented scorer they acquired from the Trail Blazers this summer. Simons, who has averaged 19.3 points per game in his career, has started every game he’s played in for the past three seasons.
The conundrum has caused fans to hotly debate which guard should start.
But Pritchard, for one, remains unconcerned: “It doesn’t matter to me.”
“A lot of things can change in a year – you can start a couple of games, you cannot,” he said. “For me, it’s about controlling what I can control – and that’s coming into games and changing the game, and being an unbelievable player and helping my team win. So that’s the only thing I’m focused on, ever. It’s not about accolades, it’s not about starting or anything like that. It’s about: how can I become the best player possible?”
Pritchard said he’s always had that mindset, even when he was younger — awards, accolades, and even starting positions just didn’t matter. That perspective ultimately resulted in him earning Sixth Man of the Year last season, but more importantly, it helped him become a winning player.
“I saw that’s how you make more progress – focusing on the things you can focus on, rather than awards and stuff like that,” he said. “Like, ‘Oh, I’m chasing these numbers to be an All-Star.’ That’s just not who I am and never will be.”
How next year plays out for the Celtics is anybody’s guess
If the roster stays healthy – and players like Pritchard, White, and Brown put together career years – the team could exceed expectations in a wide-open East. Offseason acquisitions Anfernee Simons, Luka Garza, Josh Minnott, and Chris Boucher also remain wildcards.
The latter three, all of whom are on minimum deals, don’t come into the season with massive expectations, but any could capitalize on the enormous opportunity at hand.
Pritchard thinks that Boucher, his former University of Oregon teammate in 2016, was a particularly great pickup.
“He’s a high-energy guy,” Pritchard said. “The plays he’ll be able to make are unbelievable at times. I do remember one thing from college – he never gets tired, so we should definitely use that, him running the floor.”
“I think he’ll fit wonderfully, and we definitely need him.”
The Celtics could be done making moves. Or, several more could be in store. Simons is one guy who could be out the door; since the day he was acquired, he has been embroiled in trade rumors, and the team remains above the luxury tax. Hauser is another name that has surfaced in conversations around the team’s potential offseason salary shedding.
Regardless of what the final roster looks like, Pritchard made one thing clear: the group’s intention is to shock the world and far exceed expectations.
And that’s not even something that has to be stated.
“It’s not a gap year,” he said. “It’s a year to prove [something], take a step, and show people that we are still that team.”
“We’ll put the pieces together. And we will come out and compete, and try to win every game, and put together a great season – and go for a championship.”
