Payton Pritchard Gushes Over Celtics’ First-Round Rookie

The Boston Celtics had a busy offseason, and as a result, there are a lot of new faces in town. One of those new faces, first-round rookie Hugo Gonzalez, appears to have already made quite an impression on Payton Pritchard, one of the holdovers from the C’s offseason dealings.

With the Celtics looking to duck under the second apron of the league’s new salary cap, they ended up being forced to move on from Jrue Holiday, Kristaps Porzingis, Al Horford and Luke Kornet over the past few months. Beyond that, Jayson Tatum is set to miss most of the season recovering from a torn Achilles injury he suffered in the postseason.

Now that those guys are all gone, other players are going to have to step up and lead the charge. Pritchard is expected to be one of the leaders of the team now, and part of his job has involved helping Gonzalez make the transition to the NBA.

At just 19 years old, Gonzalez has tons of potential, but he’s still very raw. After an inconsistent Summer League showing, Gonzalez turned in several strong outings during the postseason, indicating he could carve out a role for himself right away. It may be only a couple of games, but Gonzalez has already made a strong impression on Pritchard.

“He’s relentless, I like that about him,” Pritchard said of Gonzalez. “He comes in and he seems fearless, and he’s a really good athlete. He’s ready to go in and pick up … He’s gonna need that confidence, that relentless, fearless type of composure.”

Boston’s lineup is going to look very different this season, meaning Gonzalez could immediately find his way into the team’s rotation. As for Pritchard, he could potentially start in the backcourt alongside fellow guard Derrick White.

It’s going to take the C’s some time to figure out how to get the best out of their new look roster. If Gonzalez can earn some minutes right out of the gate, that could help the team potentially emerge as a dark-horse playoff contender.