Jazz Considered Favorites To Land Payton Pritchard?
The Celtics are probably going to be forced to trade Payton Pritchard this offseason and they only have themselves to blame. The trade for Malcolm Brogdon that never made any sense muddied up the point guard room and left zero minutes for the former Oregon standout. Pritchard has since requested a trade and made it clear he wants out of Boston. More than once actually.
If and when the Celtics trade Pritchard, it seems like a favorite has emerged to land him. It sure seems like Utah is the favorite to land Pritchard and it has everything to do with Danny Ainge.
“Utah is the team that would stand out just because Danny (Ainge) loves him, he picked him,” the GM told Heavy Sports’ Sean Deveney. “That would probably take (Danilo) Gallinari’s deal to make it work, because the Celtics would take back Kelly Olynyk, you’d have to think. They’d probably want a pick from Utah in that kind of deal and that is where things would get sticky — you’d probably need a third team to get that going. But the Jazz are definitely on the look for a young point guard and he’d be on their list. Portland is another one, especially if they make a move on (Damian) Lillard. A good shooter who can organize the team would be the right fit there, and the Blazers are looking to add that kind of player, a guy who can shoot and play either guard spot.”
On the surface, this makes some sense but I’m also skeptical about the framework of a trade that sends Pritchard and Gallinari out for Olynyk. Mostly because the new CBA really limits what you can do once you eclipse the second tax apron. Something the Celtics are right on the doorstep of. Boston needs to find a way to reduce salary. This trade would do the opposite, which is something this writer never mentions for whatever reason. This trade for Boston would add $1.3 million to the books with one additional player that would need to be signed accounting for the loss of the extra player. Just not something that makes sense given the current rules.
Of course, Olynyk was drafted by the Celtics in the 2013 NBA Draft when Boston took him two picks ahead of Giannis. We try not to talk about that part, however…
I’m sure the Celtics would have interest in bringing back Olynyk to be the third big but at what cost?
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