After the Boston Celtics defeated the Milwaukee Bucks Monday night, the story of the night was how Payton Pritchard dropped 28 and hit eight three-pointers.

The former Oregon Duck has been improving with each year in the league, and has now shown to be an even bigger offensive tool for the Celtics. Defensively, he’s undersized, but still no slouch with his lateral movement and active hands–enough for Joe Mazzulla to keep him in the game.

Now the argument is whether Pritchard can win the Sixth Man of the Year Award. I think it’s more than possible, here’s why.

Celtics three-pointer happy offensive style plays in Pritchard’s favor

So far, Pritchard has averaged 16.3 ppg, 3 rpg, and 2.3 apg through the first four games. The reason for Pritchard being able to find consistent buckets is because the C’s are always looking to shoot it from deep. Monday night for example, Payton got in the game in the first half and without hesitation began jacking up shots. Granted, those shots went in and Pritchard finished the first half with 19 points. The C’s are in the top five most-scoring team in the NBA, which means everyone is getting their chance to score. Don’t expect Pritchard to put up nearly 30 every night, but he within this offense, he can easily catch fire any given night.

Pritchard is Celtics only effective offensive option off bench

With Kristaps Porzginis out, that leaves Al Horford to be put in the starting lineup, which means the C’s bench isn’t strong whatsoever. Sam Hauser has also been out with a back injury, but even he’s not a reliable source of offense every night. That leaves Pritchard to make something happen off the bench.

In the same breath, not too much is asked from Pritchard when he does hit the court. Jrue Holiday, Jaylen Brown, or Derrick White is always going to be on the floor so Pritchard will have help in the back court. Teams are likely always going to shift their focus on the other stars on the Celtics, which leave Pritchard to have some good looks. He’s going to lead the amount of shots off the bench, which can allow him to average around 15 points a night.

He wants to be that guy

It’s easy to forget when Pritchard was vocal about wanting a bigger role last season, he even at one point wanted to be traded. There’s videos of him training over the summer, he was on the Olympic Select Team, playing a kid in the park last week, he trains with overseas guys–long story short, he works hard. Pritchard has a drive that has put his name on the radar more than just the guy who can hit buzzer beaters from half court. He’s in the right position to be awarded sixth man of the year.