Sam Vecenie’s scouting report:
37. Payton Pritchard | G | Oregon | Birthdate: Jan. 28, 1998 (Age: 22) | 6-2 | 200 LBS | Hometown: West Linn, Ore. BACKGROUND: An Oregon kid through and through. Grew up right outside of Portland and was the top player in the state of Oregon for his last two years of high school. He was a three-time state champion and won back-to-back Oregon player of the year awards. A four-star recruit, Pritchard originally committed to Oklahoma, which both of his parents attended. His father, Terry, played football and his mother, Melissa, was a gymnast. Ultimately though, the pull of staying home for a strong program was too much. Has been involved with USA Basketball at youth levels, being named to the Hoop Summit team in 2016 and the U19 World Cup team in 2017. Was named to the U19 World Cup All-Tournament team in 2017. Pritchard is a strong student and positive character kid, having gotten great grades. Was a four-year starter at Oregon, including as a freshman on their Final Four run in 2017. Moved into a more primary role in 2018 and 2019 before catapulting into stardom late in his junior season, carrying that into his senior year. He won the 2020 Pac-12 Player of the Year award, was the 2019 Pac-12 Tournament MVP, a consensus first team All-American, and a finalist for the Wooden Award.
YEAR TEAM LEAGUE Age GP PPG RPG APG TOPG BPG SPG FG% 3P% FT% 2016-17 Oregon NCAA (Pac-12) 19 39 7.4 3.4 3.6 1.4 0.1 1.2 39.3 35.0 73.0 2017-18 Oregon NCAA (Pac-12) 20 36 14.5 3.8 4.8 2.1 0.0 1.4 44.7 41.3 77.4 2018-19 Oregon NCAA (Pac-12) 21 38 12.9 3.9 4.6 2.0 0.1 1.8 41.8 32.8 83.8 2019-20 Oregon NCAA (Pac-12) 22 31 20.5 4.3 5.5 2.7 0.0 1.5 46.8 41.5 82.1
STRENGTHS: A real playmaker with ball in hand. Pritchard plays with a fearless mindset and is clearly not fazed by the moment or whatever he’s faced with. He’s a competitor who really battles out there. A leader who talks, and whose energy his teammates feed off of. Better as a ballhandler than he gets credit for. Keeps the ball on a string. Quicker in and out of crossovers as a senior after adjusting and getting more bend throughout his lower half to explode more in and out of moves. Allows his change of pace and tempo to have more effectiveness. Not afraid to push tempo in transition. For my money, Pritchard’s ballhandling is his best, most NBA-ready skill.
Particularly excels in pick-and-roll as a scorer. Defenders have to account for his terrific pull-up shooting at all times, which forces them to play tighter and account for hesitation moves. Range out to about 28 feet. Also excels as a shooter directly off the catch. His footwork and prep into shots is great and he’ll be an immediate impact player knocking down shots. Smart passer and playmaker and he plays an unselfish brand of basketball for being more of a scoring-minded guard. He’s capable of keeping the ball moving without derailing possessions for his own purpose. This is the modern, scoring guard, floor general archetype. Generally fights on defense and knows where he needs to be.
WEAKNESSES: Overall defensive value is obviously going to be concern as he moves up levels. Pritchard’s competitiveness allowed him to not be a liability in college and he does have some relative size at 6-foot-2, 200 pounds with a 6-foot-5 wingspan. But with the way that NBA teams target smaller guards with side-to-side lateral quickness concerns, Pritchard will need to prove that he can’t get picked apart on that end. He doesn’t need to be an elite-level defender, but he needs to at least prove a requisite level of average play.
As a passer, Pritchard isn’t the most creative guy in the world. He’s excellent at reading the big man in help and finding either the dump off option or his roller, but he doesn’t really expand his vision outside of that to the cross-corner kickout or to the opposite wing. In order to take best advantage of defenders as they really close out on him hard on catch-and-shoots, or as a pick-and-roll ballhandler, Pritchard’s vision will need to keep making strides. He also generally struggles to get by athletic on-ball defenders in isolation. Needs a ball-screen to get a step in those situations. At the rim, he’s a tough finisher, but is unlikely to be quite as good in the pros as he’s not particularly explosive athletically.
SUMMARY: Pritchard was one of my favorite players in college hoops this year. I voted him third in my Naismith Player of the Year ballot. His fearlessness and overall toughness really make me want to buy in. I like him as a potential backup point guard that can occasionally get hot enough to close games for teams in his prime. But to get beyond that level, he’s going to really improve his passing and prove that his defensive ability translates to the next level. Given his competitive mindset and strong, team-first attitude, I’d expect he’ll play in the NBA for a while. But improvement will need to happen for him to get beyond that level. GRADE: Second rounder who gets a guaranteed contract.