Pritchard's playmaking is another continuing development for the Celtics.

Pritchard is more than a scorer, and he keeps reminding us every chance he gets.

Before stepping down from his role in the Boston Celtics front office, Danny Ainge left one last gift, selecting Payton Pritchard with the 26th pick in the 2020 NBA Draft.

Pritchard, a four-year stud with Orgeon, was seen as a high-floor, low-ceiling prospect. Someone who could play a specific role off the bench while giving the starters a breather. He came into the league with the reputation of a fierce competitor, but due to his 6’2” size, he was often overlooked as a potential offensive driving force.

That’s the value of adding a four-year collegiate talent. They’re more polished than their one-and-done counterparts. For a contending team, that polish can often be more valuable than the potential of a younger, potentially more highly rated talent.

However, from time to time, those low-ceiling prospects prove you wrong. And right now, that’s exactly what Pritchard is doing. If he had a low ceiling, he’d smashed through it with ferocity. He’s gone from a potential 8-12 rotation spot to arguably the most impactful sixth man in the league, all within four years. Well, this is his fifth season, but whatever.

“I handle what I can handle, and that’s showing up every day, putting in my work, and being ready for opportunities when they come,” Pritchard said during 2023 Media Day. “Like I said all along, I love basketball. All I want to do is hoop and compete. That was the whole thing the whole time. I’m looking forward to the opportunity of trying to win games and bringing it every time I’m on the floor.”

On Sunday, against the Washington Wizards, Pritchard gave us another reminder of the player he’s become. At this point, I feel like I should rename this newsletter to “The Pritchard Chronicle” because it doesn’t feel like a game goes by without me singing his praises.

But right now, he’s the team’s most consistent player.

“He's averaging 17-3-3, he's a bonafide starter that's mastered his role off the bench,” Chandler Parsons said in a recent episode of FanDuel TV’s Run It Back. “He takes nine threes a game, and he's shooting 44% from the three. Payton Pritchard's got the best true shooting percentage outside of Steph Curry…the dude's making history. The kid has really expanded his game. Watching him at Oregon, I thought he would be good. I never thought he would be this good; he just keeps getting better and better, and he's an absolute hooper.”

You can see it every time he steps on the court. Pritchard is playing with a new level of confidence. 15 points, 11 rebounds and six assists is a statline many assumed would be out of his grasp when he first entered the league. Now, we don’t blink an eye when he puts up those kinds of numbers.

Since the start of the season, we’ve looked at some of Pritchard’s developments as a scorer. Be it his ever-improving ‘bump creation’ or how he’s refined his jumper when pulling up off the dribble. However, we haven’t looked at some other areas of his game.

I once saw Pritchard as a pick-and-roll creator. His lack of off-the-bounce scoring (at the time) meant that he would likely need to use screens whenever he had the ball in the half-court. I was wrong. Yes, his off-the-bounce game has opened up passing opportunities, but so has his improved handle and the way he controls his movements and tempo.

Now, though, he’s figured out how to put everything together. Not only is he lighting it up as a scorer, but now he's giving defenders headaches as a playmaker, too.

Let me explain…

I’ve written about Pritchard’s improved off-hand and how his additional strength is helping him hold off bigger defenders. Here’s another example of that. Nevertheless, his ability to hold off his man, drive the rock and keep a tight handle on his dribble has allowed him to develop his playmaking game. His assist to Derrick White in the above clip doesn’t happen if he hasn’t improved those aspects of his game.

How many times have we seen Pritchard come off a wide pin-down only to get into the paint or attack the mid-range this season? There’s a reason his defender fought to stick to his hip on the above play. Pritchard still hit a kind of? Step back to the free-throw line, but rather than pulling up for a jumper, he found Porzingis on the lob pass.

If Pritchard hadn’t begun showcasing multi-level scoring, his defender likely would have sagged off on this play. That could have allowed an extra body to try and tag Porzingis and stop him getting into a lob position. Pritchard is a three-level scorer, though, which means his defender has to respect the scoring threat. The issue is, now he’s proving he can create for others, too…making him almost impossible to slow down.

Here’s another example…

Last season, Pritchard became adept at creating kick-out opportunities via ‘Nash’ dribbles — when you dribble the ball under the basket and onto the opposite side of the court to where your drive started — Steve Nash was elite at this, hence the name.

The Oregon product is also a threat to hit a bump-off and score or to outstretch his arm for the running finger roll. So, it makes sense that Washington had three players collapsing into the paint on Pritchard’s drive. One is on his hip, one is to defend the rim, and the other is to pressure a possible passing lane.

Once his foot touched the paint, and the defense collapsed a little harder, Pritchard hit the one-handed pass to a waiting Sam Hauser for an open corner three that was nothing short of cash money.

Not only is Pritchard leading the NBA in total points off the bench. He’s also fifth in total assists, dishing out 85 dimes for the Celtics over his first 26 games.

For reference, he finished 7th in total assists off the bench last season, dropping 234 dimes, tying with Russell Westbrook.

Pritchard is on pace to secure more total assists during the current campaign, which will be news to Joe Mazzulla’s ears.

The complete performance we saw against Washington was an extension of what we saw against the Detroit Pistons on Thursday. Pritchard is starting to string multiple big performances together, and not just against some of the lower-ranked teams in the NBA.

Factor in his rebounding — because the way he grabs boards is ridiculous — and his overall scoring, and it’s exciting to think that he could potentially continue improving and polishing his game in the coming months and years.

Pritchard was one of the best players on the floor in both of Boston’s last two games. He’s been one of their best players all season. It’s gotten to the point where I’m loading up my computer, wondering what craziness he’s gotten up to every time there has been a game.

When the Celtics begin their postseason push, Pritchard is going to have some game-changing moments. I’m calling it now. Book it.