Will Payton Pritchard Win the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year Award?

The rich get even richer. Coming off an NBA Championship season, the Celtics did their best to re-sign their entire squad, with the expectation that they could continue to run it back year after year with the guys they had in-house. One of those role players that they had last year was Payton Pritchard. However, as opposed to last year, Pritchard has come alive this season as a dominant force to start the season. Despite the Celtics having a stacked roster, Pritchard has been able to carve out a nice role as part of this team. Can Pritchard win the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year Award, or will he not be able to keep up this level of production moving forward?

Firstly, the Celtics have a ton of star power on this team including Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Kristaps Porzingis, Derrick White, and Jrue Holiday. Anyone of those starters can go and get well over 20 points on any given night. However, with Porzingis out and Jaylen Brown suffering some injuries of his own, it has allowed Pritchard to get increased minutes. Last year, Pritchard only got about 22 minutes a game, while recently he has gotten up to 29 minutes per game. In the Celtics’ most recent game against the Brooklyn Nets, Pritchard got a whopping 36 minutes and managed to get 23 points, eight assists, and six rebounds. So the injuries to key players on the starting roster have forced the Celtics to play more small ball which has given Pritchard more opportunities on the floor. So can this level of production be sustained once the full starting roster returns?

I would assume yes! With Pritchard seemingly taking the next steps in his development as a player this season, it is evident that he is becoming a starting-caliber point guard in the NBA. With his shooting percentage and free throw percentage on the rise this year, he is becoming more efficient with the opportunities he has with the Celtics. Therefore, even once the full starting lineup returns for the Celtics, Pritchard will still be the offensive catalyst for the Celtics’ second rotation as they try to amass another championship run this year. With Pritchard averaging 16 points, three assists, and three rebounds per game for the Celtics, he could absolutely win the Sixth Man of the Year Award if he maintains this level of production and efficiency for the rest of the season.