2021-22 Group distribution: Ball handlers

With the Celtics training camp starting in just a few days, it’s time to split the lineup and give an idea of ​​what the teams ’depth chart looks like going toward through 2021-22.

Instead of classifying players with the traditional 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 place tags, we take a page from the book by Brad Stevens, director of basketball operations, by placing each athlete in one of the following three roles:

1. Ball Handlers Typically call 1.
2. Wings Hybrid between 2, 3 and 4.
3. Bigs Hybrid between 4 and 5.

We will no doubt start this series with the most important role on the field at the ball handling station.

There are several players in Boston who can control the attack, including a few wings and big players like Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum and Al Horford. however, there are only three guys who fit into a real ball handling role.

Here is a trio that is largely responsible for managing the pace of the Celtics this season:

Marcus Smart

Marcus Smart has improved tremendously as a playmaker over the last couple of years, achieving his career-best averages of 13.1 points and 5.7 assists per game in 2020-21. This season, hell has a chance to shine even more.

After Kemba Walker’s offseason start, Smart is now Boston’s primary ball handler, where he should succeed.

Over the years, Smart has often either supported the General of the Boston executive floor or filled it when needed, like last season when he stepped into Walker while the former All-Star was returning from offseason knee surgery. Smart played about 45 percent of his minutes at the guard point last season, the highest mark, according to Basketball Reference, after he was in the beginner season (74 percent) when he supported Rajon Rondo.

Boston’s longest-running player would have benefited Smart in this role because he knows the tendencies of the system and his teammates, as well as everyone else. For example, he has built solid chemistry with Brown and Tatum in recent years and understands how to facilitate an open search for stellar tandem, and had a special connection to Al Horford during Horford’s first working group.

Smart has always been trusted to be a Celtics defensive character, but this year the team needs him to continue the offensive head as they put the ball in his hands.

Dennis Shroder

The Celtics would have been pretty light on the ball handlers this season if it hadn’t been for Dennis Schroder’s surprise addition in mid-August. And what an addition he should be.

Schroder brings to the table eight years of NBA experience and career averages of 14.3 points and 4.7 assists per match. Last season, he started 61 games for the Los Angeles Lakers and finished second on the team in entry points (5.8 per game) behind LeBron James.

In recent years, Schroder has been an assistant to several Hall-of-Fame-tied, high-volume scorers, including Anthony Davis, Russell Westbrook and James. Such an experience should help as the 28-year-old moves to play alongside a pair of rising superstars in Brown and Tatum.

Much of Schroders ’game production begins with driving a basket. Last season, the changing guard made an average of 13.3 runs per match, which would have put him first in the Celtics in that series ahead of Tatum (12.4) and Brown (10.5). He decided to relay 42.9 percent of these stations, a trend that should promise good to Boston shooters when Schroder plans to kick them into the ring if he can’t find an open look.

Payton Pritchard

The Bostons trio of ball handlers is driven by sophomore Payton Pritchard. The 6-foot University of Oregon product exploded on the spot as a beginner last season, scoring an average of 7.7 points, 2.4 rebounds and 1.8 assists per match when shot at 41.1 percent of the three-point range. By the end of the season, it was clear that the Celtics were allowed to steal in a draft from previous years, given how 25 players had been selected before Pritchard and he surpassed most of them.

Pritchard is poised to break out further in his second season, especially after the Summer League performance, when he just performed in Las Vegas, where he averaged 16.8 points, 5.8 rebounds, 8.5 assists and 1.8 steals when he shot 47.8 percent of the field. 46.9 percent from long range and 88.9 percent from free throw.

Now that there is less traffic on the ball handler’s depth chart, Pritchard should have plenty of opportunities to converge to a more significant role.