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With training camp less than a week away, it’s time for us to break down the Celtics' roster to give you an idea of what the team’s depth chart will look like for the 2024-25 season.
Rather than classifying players with the traditional 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 positional tags, we’re taking a page out of President of Basketball Operations Brad Stevens’ book by placing each athlete into one of the following categories:
We’ll begin our Roster Breakdown Series by highlighting Boston’s ball handlers. The Celtics have several players capable of facilitating the offense, including a few wings and bigs; however, we’re just highlighting the four guys who specialize in that role listed in order of minutes played per game last season.
Jrue Holiday
The term “ball handler” doesn’t fully encapsulate Jrue Holiday’s impact on the Celtics. The 15-year veteran handles the ball at a high level and defends the ball better than maybe any perimeter player in the NBA.
Holiday’s addition right before the start of last season was an unexpected gift for an already-stacked contender. His facilitation, defensive ability, and willingness to sacrifice his personal production helped push the Celtics over the top to a championship.
During his first season in green, Holiday averaged 12.5 points, 4.8 assists, and a career-high 5.4 rebounds per game to go along with a career-best and team-leading 3-point clip of 42.9 percent. His defensive impact earned him his sixth career All-Defensive Team nod.
When Holiday arrived last fall, he said he could envision winning “multiple rings” in Boston. Expect the 34-year-old point guard to come out hungry to repeat this coming campaign.
Derrick White
One would have thought that inserting Holiday into the rotation would have caused Derrick White’s stats to drop last season. Instead, the opposite occurred. Rather than stepping on each other’s shoes, the duo complemented each other perfectly, and White posted career-high marks nearly across the board.
The seven-year vet posted 15.2 points, 5.2 assists, 4.2 rebounds, 1.0 steals, and 1.2 blocks per game while shooting 46.1 percent from the field, 39.6 percent from long range, and 90.1 percent from the free-throw line.
White’s shot-blocking and ball-hawking skills earned him a spot alongside Holiday on the All-Defense Second Team, and he was a borderline All-Star on top of that.
The duo got even more reps alongside each other this summer, winning a gold medal with the U.S. Olympic team. So their chemistry should be even stronger as they embark on their second season together.
Payton Pritchard
Payton Pritchard’s minutes decreased from his rookie year to his sophomore year to his third year in the league, but he didn’t let that discourage him. He came out for Year 4 last season with an opportunity to help fill the voids of Marcus Smart and Malcolm Brogdon, and he turned up the dial for a breakout campaign.
Pritchard saw an increase of nine minutes per game from his third year (13.4) to his fourth year (22.3), which resulted in career-high marks of 9.6 points, 3.4 assists, and 3.2 rebounds per game with shooting splits of 46.8 percent from the field, 38.5 percent from deep, and 82.1 percent from the charity stripe.
Not often do you see a third option with the confidence that Pritchard possesses. He was fearless in his shot-taking, especially in the playoffs. He knocked down the most memorable shot of the entire championship run – a halfcourt buzzer-beater at the end of the first half of a title-clinching Game 5, which sucked the life out of the Dallas Mavericks.
Combining such confidence with his per-minute production would make Pritchard a starting-caliber player on several teams. The Celtics are fortunate to have such a talent quarterbacking their bench unit.
JD Davison
JD Davison will enter his third season as a two-way player in the Celtics organization, splitting his time between Maine and Boston.
The soon-to-be 22-year-old may not have extensive big-game experience at the NBA level, but he does at the G League level, where he helped lead the Maine Celtics to the championship round this past spring.
He was the top all-around player on the Portland squad, averaging 20.8 points, 8.6 assists, 5.2 rebounds, and 1.6 steals per game, which earned him All-NBA G League Third Team honors.
Davison has shown strides in each of his three professional seasons, and that’s why the Celtics continue to believe in the uber-athletic guard. His fourth season will be his most important yet – to show that he belongs in the NBA full-time.
