Jalen Brunson. Desmond Bane. Tyler Herro. Tyrese Maxey. Trae Young.
There is steep competition for Darius Garland to make the All-Star Game next season. The Cleveland Cavaliers can reasonably expect to have three All-Stars once again, with Garland joining Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley. Yet it's certainly no guarantee with so many talented guards in the Eastern Conference vying for limited All-Star berths.
Yet the idea floated by NBA Insider Jake Fischer is a slap to the face of Garland and his level of play from last season. One of the most plugged-in reporters covering the league, Fischer shared the idea - whether his or coming from NBA executives - that Payton Pritchard of the Boston Celtics could have an All-Star season as he steps up in the absence of Jayson Tatum and Jrue Holiday.
Pritchard as an All-Star is a ludicrous idea
That is an absolutely ludicrous idea. There will certainly be more shots to go around for the Celtics this season, leading to an increased role for Pritchard -- more minutes, more shots to go around. And Pritchard has some games under his belt where he stepped in for an injured Holiday or Derrick White and put up big numbers. The high-volume shooter is capable of getting hot and putting up big stat lines.
Yet he also can be ice cold, or get swallowed up by defensive attention and completely disappear. He has been an excellent bench player for the Celtics -- but he may be hard-pressed to replicate his efficiency as a consistent starter. Even if he does emerge as a solid scoring threat for Boston, his all-around game is not to the level of the star guards mentioned at the top of this piece. There is a reason he has never started consistently in his career.
The Celtics will also be significantly worse this year than last; they replaced two fringe All-Stars in Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis with worse players, didn't replace Al Horford and Luke Kornet much at all, and will be wholly without Jayson Tatum. Not only will they have a much worse record, the jarring nature of that step down will further accentuate their lower level of play.
Mediocre teams don't get three All-Stars, and it's almost certain that Jaylen Brown and Derrick White will be further up the pecking order. Anfernee Simons may not spend the entire season in Boston, but he has a better scoring track record than Pritchard. Mediocre team seasons from high-scoring players like Trae Young in the last couple of seasons have highlighted that voters and coaches are not quick to reward such performances.
That brings things back around to Darius Garland. He may miss the start of the season, the only real hurdle to a repeat All-Star performance. He is better in every facet of the game than Pritchard, will play for a significantly better team, and -- the finishing blow -- he is two years younger. Garland is still ascending into his prime; Pritchard is much more likely to be locked into his best form.
To look at a list of potential All-Stars in the Eastern Conference and seriously entertain a player like Pritchard making the All-Star Game is ludicrous. It's a slap to the face of Garland, of Desmond Bane, of players like Franz Wagner and Jalen Johnson -- all significantly better players than Pritchard looking for their first All-Star appearance. Even names like Andrew Nembhard should come before Pritchard.
The media has long entertained a bias toward teams such as the Celtics, and it's not surprising that they are getting undue attention and inflated, fanciful predictions. In the end, however, something extremely unlikely and unexpected would have to happen for Payton Pritchard to be an All-Star.
For Darius Garland, that's the baseline expectation. He is a star, and he should be recognized as exactly that.