Warriors Draft: First-round talents at 48 — Payton Pritchard, Oregon
The senior guard from the University of Oregon has been on a steady incline over the four years he has been in college. In about the same amount of minutes per game, Pritchard has gone from averaging 7.4 points his freshman year to 20.5 points per game his senior year.
On top of that, Pritchard has also risen to over 5.0 assists per game (5.5) and almost reached the same achievement in rebounds per game (4.3).
According to Matt Norlander from CBS Sports:
"“He was THE guy for Oregon the past two seasons, top billing on every scouting report, and that didn’t stop him from putting up good averages, nor did it ding his efficiency numbers. Might be a borderline career backup, but he’s still undervalued by the hive mind.”"
Pritchard led the PAC-12 in over a handful of offensive stats his senior year including multiple ones dealing with scoring and assists. He also led the entire NCAA in minutes player during his junior year at Oregon.
He would be an excellent backup to the star point guard the Warriors already have. We have already discussed that the Warriors need and have been looking for someone to fill that position. Pritchard might just be that person.