Celtics Players Who Have to Elevate Their Game in 2024
The Boston Celtics will enter the new year in a great place.
Given the way they've started the 2023-24 NBA season, they could close out this calendar year with the league's highest winning percentage, best net rating or both.
As you may expect, then, it's tough to find Shamrocks who aren't playing up to expectations. Still, it would help if the following three players performed better than they have so far.
Dalano Banton
1 of 3
The Celtics really haven't tried to work Dalano Banton into a regular rotation role yet, but he also hasn't forced them to reconsider.
Granted, he's only handled 94 minutes to this point, so the sample size is as small as they come. Even still, he's shot just 1-of-8 from three and tallied the same number of assists as turnovers (five each).
Even for a defensive specialist, he needs to be more helpful on offense.
If he could find an offensive niche, though, he could still be interesting given the possibilities that come from having a 6'9" lead guard and defensive head of the snake.
Oshae Brissett
2 of 3
The Celtics were thin on the wings behind Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown already last season. Then, their forward rotation took at hit with the offseason exit of Grant Williams.
Despite that, Oshae Brissett has been unable to work himself into the nightly mix.
He hasn't outright failed his assignment, it's more like he hasn't been given a chance to pass or fail. When his number has been called, though, he's provided loads of energy and defense but almost zero offense. There's simply no way to polish his unsightly 41.7/20/64.3 shooting slash.
He's better than he's shown, but that's why it's easy to ask more of him. Boston could be a two-way contributor or two shy of having a full postseason rotation, and the best version of Brissett can be exactly that.
Payton Pritchard
3 of 3
Payton Pritchard's first season as a full-time player has been a mixed bag.
It's at least been more good than bad, though.
He struggled mightily with his shot early on, but he's really heated up during December. He has also exceeded expectations as an offensive organizer with nearly six times as many assists (2.9 per game) as turnovers (0.5).
His challenge moving forward is two-fold, though. One, he needs to prove he can sustain this level of play over a larger sample size. It's one thing to string a few good weeks together, it's quite another to be a reliable contributor over the better part of six months. Two, he must continue working to improve as a defender, since he'll always be targeted at that end as a 6'1", 195-pounder with less than elite athleticism.
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