Backup forward Paschall traded for draft pick
The Warriors have traded forward Eric Paschall to the Jazz for a protected future secondround pick, a league source confirmed with The Chronicle on Wednesday.
Paschall’s Golden State tenure has appeared at an impasse since he finished a disappointing season. The No. 41 pick in the 2019 NBA draft, he earned AllRookie First Team honors, only to regress in his second year.
His defensive issues — particularly on help side — were a source of frustration for head coach Steve Kerr. Not much of a passer or floorspacer, Paschall struggled at small forward and power forward in the Warriors’ readandreact system.
His best minutes came as a smallball center, but that was a role that could be used only in certain lineups. The Warriors were outscored by 6.8 points per 100 possessions when Paschall was on the floor last season — a far cry from the 3.2 points per 100 possessions they outscored opponents by when he was on the bench.
It didn’t help that he missed 22 games with a strained left hip flexor, four for coronavirusrelated reasons, two with a sore right knee and two with a sore left wrist. Paschall’s only two appearances after March 26 were a 3for9 performance in a blowout loss to the Raptors and a 12point showing in a win over the Pelicans.
With the Warriors adding forward Otto Porter Jr. and Nemanja Bjelica in free agency this week, Paschall didn’t necessarily have a clear path to playing time. It was widely believed that if he was traded, the Jazz would be a likely landing spot. Paschall is close friends with Utah guard Donovan Mitchell.
With Paschall’s departure, the Warriors have 15 players under contract. They have yet to use their $5.9 million taxpayer midlevel exception on a free agent.
Such a turn of events might have been hard to predict a year ago, when Paschall was coming off a productive rookie season. But after averaging 14 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.1 assists in 27.6 minutes per game, he averaged 9.5 points on 49.7% shooting (33.3% from 3point range), 3.2 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 17.4 minutes per game this past season.