How about them Celtics, eh? I am a hardcore fan and these last couple years have been amazing. Barring serious injury, this years edition will go down in the history books as one of the best teams ever to take the floor.
I have also followed Danilo Gallinari in his Hawks career. Gallinari is a good player. He can create his own shot and take over an offense for short stints. As an individual he is an asset to any team.
But as a team player? Not so much. The Hawks have never learned to play team ball and he’s an example of it. When he gets the ball it stays with him. Much like Jaylen Brown until recently, the entire flow of the offense stops. (The Number 21 ballhog in the league years ago.) Like Jaylen Brown he could do good things one on one, but it isn’t worth it to destroy the group dynamics.
Defensively, Gallinari is ordinary. The Hawks have never been good at defense, mostly because Trey Young refuses to try. Seriously, watch Trey play defense for a few minutes. Everyone blows right past him. Gallinari plays decent enough defense to try and cover for the five-on-four dynamics teams have against the Hawks, but is he anything special? No.
These Celtics thrive on team chemistry. They traded for Derrick White because he is a team player. They traded for Malcom Brogdon because he is a team player (and being incredibly gracious and quiet about leading the bench instead of starting). Gallinari does not fit into this team.
These Celtics don’t need Gallinari. They are already the best team in the league by a healthy margin. They are already improving even more as their defense is improving. They have Rob Williams returning soon, they are going to be even more dominant. They already have the deepest bench in the league, the next best options from Gallinari are great (Payton Pritchard would be starting on most teams, he barely even plays for us.) We’re going to get that 18th banner with or without him just fine.
Now is the time to get rid of Gallinari. Trade him for some draft picks, or money that can be used to keep the team together, or something. Get value while we can, but he doesn’t belong in Celtics green.
Other teams sniffing around at Payton Pritchard. They know he’s good enough to be higher up the depth chart on most teams. I like your package of Pritchard and Gallinari.
https://www.celticsblog.com/2022/12/28/23529566/report-other-teams-interested-in-payton-pritchard-nba-trade-deadline-rumors
Wow, that was an epic rant. Who knew a random Payton Pritchard would be so triggering? He has started for the Celtics quite a few times and done a creditable job. There’s your proof he can start in the NBA, he actually has. That said, I’ll walk back my point a bit. Maybe he wouldn’t be starting for most teams. But he would certainly be part of the bench rotation, and he is certainly a better player than the 10th most used player that most teams have.
If you don’t like the Pritchard example, step back a bit. The Celtics bench is very deep. And it’s about to get much deeper once Rob Williams is back. A bench unit featuring Al Horford, Grant Williams and Malcom Brogdon? Sign me up! And it’s usually anchored by Taytum or Brown. Find me a bench unit stronger than that.
Danilo Gallinari: I agree he’s not worth much. But he’s worth something. Go get that something. Maybe we can trade him and Pritchard for a better player!
Can’t resist leaving a few comments.
First, full disclosure. I hate the Celtics. Hate them! I’m a Knicks fan, and Larry Bird basically spent the 80s toying with the Knicks. Those were my formative NBA fandom years, and that hatred has remained. I rooted against them in every round of the playoffs last year, even rooting for teams I would never normally root for. The Bucks??
Anyway, I wanted to push back a little, in a friendly way, about a couple of your assertions.
First … how do you think you will get any value out of Danilo Gallinari. He’s 34, coming off a torn ACL, and is on the books for $6-7 mil next season. I’m not sure anyone is lining up to shower the Celtics with draft picks for such a mid 30s bench guy with a year of rust and a reconstructed knee. At best, he could be used to even out a trade. Since NBA trades need to be fairly balanced in salary, they could trade, say, a $10M player, add in Danilo, and get a $17M-ish player in return. But that assumes that the Celtics want to trade other players to try and get a difference maker. Probably not, given their depth and chemistry. So, the Celts are probably doomed to keep him around, or just cut him.
Second … Payton Prichard a starter on most NBA teams? Hmmm. That is a fun point to debate, so why not. Pritchard is a role player at best, at least at this point. The NBA loves to have 3-and-D guys to shuffle in and out of lineups. Grant Williams, a perfect example. Pritchard … well, he’s a 3-guy, but his defensive stats are average, and the Warriors could easily pick on him last year when he was playing defense. So let’s see … Pritchard a starter on most NBA teams? He’s a shooting guard, and there are 30 starting shooting guards in the NBA. How many of these starting jobs could he claim:
Booker, George, LaVine, Mitchell, Jaylen Brown, Beal, SGA, Klay Thompson, Edwards, Simmons. Those are the top 10 (according to some web site I just looked up). All are All-Stars, former All-Stars, or will be All-Stars this season. Let’s leave the “would you rather have Ben Simmons or Payton Pritchard” debate for another day. Please don’t make me defend Ben Simmons.
Next 5 – Bane (likely All Star this year), Murray (same), Maxey, Herb Jones, Tyler Herro. For Pritchard to start on most teams, he’d have to get the nod over Herro at #15. Who says no on a Herro for Pritchard trade? Brad Stevens would be driving him to the airport personally.
OK, so he can’t start on more than half the teams. Let’s keep going for fun.
Next 5 – Dinwiddie, Trent Jr, Rozier, Huerter, Sexton. We’re definitely declining in pedigree here. But still … Dinwiddie is averaging 17 pts 5 assists per game and shooting 41% from 3. Trent averages 17 per game. Rozier averages 22-5-6 (admittedly for a lousy team). Huerter averages 16 ppg and shoots over 41% from 3. Sexton is coming off a serious knee injury and is averaging 14 ppg in 24 mins, and averaged 25 ppg not long ago. I don’t think any of these are getting displaced by Pritchard, who this season is averaging 5 ppg in 12 minutes, shooting 41% from the field and 36% from 3. And I bet pretty much every 3 he has taken has been a wide open look, given the Celtics options on the floor and ball distribution.
Bottom 10 — Caldwell Pope, Simons, Hield, Suggs, Jalen Green, Fournier, Matthews, Ivey, Vassell, and Austin Reaves. Some of these are 1st or 2nd year players drafted high in the lottery (Suggs, Green, Ivey) and would not be displaced for Pritchard. There also some journeymen who would be the most likely boots for Pritchard. Fournier, Vassell, Reaves. Let’s look at Reaves’ stats for fun, he’s listed #30 out of 30 starters. 11 points in 29 minutes, with minimal reb and assist numbers (3 & 2, respectively). 24 years old (a year younger than Pritchard). 39% from 3. He’s 6’5″. Would the Lakers sub out Reaves for Pritchard, who is 6’1″? Let’s line up career per-36 numbers:
Pritchard 15.2 pts, 4.6 reb, 4.1 ast, 43% FG, 41% 3P
Reaves 12.0 pts, 4.5 reb, 2.7 ast, 48% FG, 34% 3P
At least we have a conversation here! You could say that Pritchard might start over Reaves, although I can’t comment on Reaves’ defense. Note – Reaves makes $1.6M, Pritchard $2.2M. Both low, so no difference there.
All in all, I think you’d be generous to say Pritchard could start on 1-3 teams. His low salary value might make him a valuable trade though. Say, combine Pritchard’s $2M with Danilo’s $6M, throw in a couple of other scrubs, a draft pick or two, and you might get a rotation guy. 🙂 Or you can have Evan Fournier back! C’mon, you know you want him!