Payton Pritchard

After the departure of Marcus Smart to Memphis, more point guard minutes were available for Pritchard. However, Boston made a surprise move to land Jrue Holiday ahead of training camp. Malcolm Brogdon left in the deal, so it appears Pritchard could still wind up being the top guard behind Holiday and Derrick White to open the campaign. Pritchard will compete with Dalano Banton and possibly JD Davison (two-way contract), but it's the former's job to lose. Over three seasons with the Celtics, Pritchard has averaged 15.6 minutes per contest, with a healthy number of DNP-Coach's Decisions. The point guard's minutes trend has actually declined each season, due mostly to his struggles on the defensive end. Many opponents ran isolation plays directed at the diminutive Pritchard. On the offensive end, Pritchard gives the Celtics a quick boost of three-point shooting. His career average of 39 percent from behind the arc is notable. Last season, Pritchard produced per-36-minute results of 15.1 points, 4.9 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 3.1 triples. As those stats show, he's a shoot-first point guard. Unfortunately, Pritchard is very unlikely to ever see 36 minutes per contest, unless Boston suffers multiple long-term injuries. But an improvement over last season's 13.4 minutes per contest is likely.