Pritchard is proof that Ainge’s drafts are the gift that keeps giving

Pritchard is proof that Ainge’s drafts are the gift that keeps giving originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

By the end of his tenure, when things were kind of falling apart and change loomed, a narrative took hold about Danny Ainge’s drafts: Yeah, he nailed Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, but he kept too many picks, with too little to show for them.

There’s a fair criticism buried in there, because Ainge could’ve been more aggressive dealing from his surplus in order to bolster a championship nucleus. But four years out from his last draft in Boston, we can now take a more comprehensive look at his selections and there are really only two words for his performance: home run.

If you re-ordered the 2016 to 2020 drafts, when Ainge did the bulk of his work building what became the core of Banner 18, you’ll see a common theme. Ainge’s picks have consistently outperformed their draft position.

This is relevant, because on Wednesday night, two of those unheralded selections will square off. With the 14th and 26th picks, respectively, in the 2020 draft, Ainge selected Vanderbilt sharpshooter Aaron Nesmith and Oregon sparkplug Payton Pritchard.

It may have taken each of them a little while to get rolling, but they’re now productive players. Nesmith is starting for the Pacers and averaged a career-high 12.2 points per game last season. He has carved out a niche for himself as a high-energy glue guy, and after a terrible shooting start to his career in Boston, he’s once again converting over 40 percent of his 3-pointers in Indy.

If that draft were conducted today, Nesmith would probably go somewhere in the 20s, but he’s trending upwards.

A case can be made that Pritchard and Nesmith would in fact probably swap spots. Pritchard just dropped 28 points on the Bucks, and has come off the bench to hit at least five 3-pointers in each of his last three games. With his penchant for halfcourt heroics and his constant offensive aggression, he looks like an early Sixth Man of the Year candidate. He’s exactly what you hope for out of a late first-round selection.

If we rewind to the two drafts that started this run, it looks like Ainge…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/pritchard-proof-ainges-drafts-gift-155423560.html

Author : NBC Sports Boston

Publish date : 2024-10-30 15:54:00

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