The defending champion Boston Celtics may not be first in the Eastern Conference standings, but their play this season has proven that last season wasn't a fluke. The Celtics are still rounding into form, but they are already deeper than last season's team due to one of their bench players' emergence.
Fifth-year guard Payton Pritchard has had a breakout season for Boston, so much so that Bleacher Report projects that he will go on to win Sixth Man of the Year. It has taken time for Prichard to carve out a sizeable role with the Celtics, but he finally has this season, and that has proven to be huge for them.
He's averaging a terrific 15.2 points while draining 41.4% of his 8.2 3-point attempts per game—all while coming off the bench. Having a player who was once thought of as a third-string guard emerge as the favorite to win Sixth Man of the Year makes the Celtics deeper than ever.
Payton Pritchard's emergence as a Sixth Man of the Year frontrunner makes the Boston Celtics harder to beat.
The Celtics already had a murderers' row rotation that featured Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, Derrick White, Al Horford, Jrue Holiday, and Kristaps Porzingus. With the Celtics already having one of the best rotations, one through six, Pritchard stepping into a larger role makes them even deeper and gives them more offensive firepower.
A lot has been made about the Celtics launching an NBA record 50.4 3-point attempts per game, but they have been able to get up that many, in part due to Pritchard. It is one thing to take that many shots, but it is another to hit them at an accurate clip, and Pritchard's elite shotmaking has been a big part of that.
It is even more impressive that he can come in cold off the bench and still rank among the best high-volume 3-point shooters in the NBA. If that continues, then he should have no problem proving Bleacher Report right by going on to win Sixth Man of the Year. Considering that he has managed to increase his scoring output by more than six points per game from last season, he also has a decent case for Most Improved Player of the Year.
However, Bleacher Report picked the Atlanta Hawks' Jalen Johnson to win that honor. Even so, Pritchard's play should allow him to pick up some hardware and perhaps contribute to a second-straight championship for the Celtics.