Payton Pritchard is having a career year, averaging career highs in minutes, points, rebounds, assists, steals, and 3P%. What makes it even more impressive, is that he’s doing it as Boston’s 6th man, and could very well be leading the Sixth Man of the Year award race. His points have seen the most significant jump, rising from 9.6 PPG last season to 15.4 this season. Something that may be overlooked, though, is his rebounding numbers.
Last year, Pritchard averaged 3.2 rebounds per game. This year he’s averaging 3.8 RPG. That may not seem very noteworthy, but that 0.6 RPG increase is coming almost entirely in the form of offensive rebounds. Last year he averaged 0.9 ORPG, while this year he averages 1.5 ORPG. Honestly, when you watch him play it feels like that number doesn’t even accurately represent how many extra possessions he brings in for the Celtics.
He has a knack for chasing boards, and is almost always crashing the glass on offense. He’s currently third on the team in terms of offensive rebounds per game. The only two players above him? Luke Kornet and Neemias Queta, both 7-footers. Payton is only 6’1”, the shortest player on the roster by at least 3 inches.
The impressive numbers go beyond just the Celtics, too. There are only three players under 6’6” who average more offensive rebounds per game than Payton in the league. Those three are Josh Hart, Josh Okogie, and Luguentz Dort, all of which are listed at 6’4”. Hart averages 1.7 ORPG while Dort averages 1.6, and Okogie averages 1.5. Dort and Hart both also see more court time than Pritchard, with Lu averaging 29.4 MPG and Hart a whopping 36.9 MPG to Payton’s 28.8 MPG. If we remove the height restrictions, Payton is still number 56 out of all players league-wide who meet the minute/games played qualifiers.
Pritchard has stepped up every facet of his game, and his hustle and energy have been hard to miss. Doing what he’s doing on the boards at his size is insanely impressive, and gives Boston a huge lift every time he enters the game. It’s something that shouldn’t be overlooked by voters when it comes down to deciding who the Sixth Man of the Year is at the end of the season, though I’m sure Payton and the team are more focused on it translating into wins as opposed to individual awards.
