Seasoned rookies make their marks
Teams often overlook players who spend 4 years in college, such as Warriors’ Paschall
During the leadup to June’s NBA draft, Eric Paschall heard praise from teams about his strength, versatility and basketball IQ. The only negative feedback he received was that he could improve his jump shot.
“There’s one thing that you can’t work on,” Paschall said recently. “That’s your age.”
As he watched the draft’s first round end without hearing his name, Paschall — projected as a late firstround pick — knew why he slid. In a draft era that often prioritizes potential over experience, a 22yearold who spent a halfdecade in the NCAA isn’t considered to have the upside of his 19yearold counterparts, even if he’s more ready for the NBA.
When Paschall suits up for the Rising Stars game Friday night in Chicago as the Warriors’ lone representative at AllStar weekend, he’ll take pride in joining four fellow fouryear college players: Miami guard Kendrick Nunn,
Charlotte guard Devonte’ Graham, Memphis forward Brandon Clarke and Detroit guard Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk. Those five were tabbed as some of the best rookies and sophomores even
though none was drafted before the 21st pick.
What’s curious is that one reason they fell on draft night also has been a driving force behind their early professional success. When the Warriors took Paschall with the 41st pick in June, they knew they were getting a muscular forward who could bolster their thin front court.
His varied experience at Villanova, which included being a doeverything role player for a nationalchampionship team and a goto option for one that reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament, helped ensure that he could handle whatever was asked of him at the next level. But given that he was only five months shy of his 23rd birthday on draft night, many NBA front offices were reluctant to use a firstround pick on him.
“It was kind of weird because here’s this guy who everyone agrees is going to be in the league for a long time, yet 40 players are taken ahead of him,” one Western Conference scout told The Chronicle. “I can guarantee you that, based off what we all knew entering the draft, no one could argue that 40 players would have better careers than him.”
Prospects tend to declare for the draft as soon as they have a chance to be selected, which decreases the number of NBAcaliber seniors. There is a leaguewide infatuation, however, with teenagers who possess the size and skills valued at the sport’s highest level — even if they lack the production against elite competition.
Scouts must project a player’s NBA ceiling without much video to study. For example, the three prospects in the discussion for the No. 1 pick in June — Georgia guard Anthony Edwards, former Memphis center James Wiseman and guard LaMelo Ball, who had been playing in Australia — are 18yearolds who haven’t had an opportunity to reveal some of their flaws. Wiseman and Ball shut down their respective seasons early to begin preparing for the NBA draft.
After Paschall won a national title as a Villanova junior in 2018, he considered entering the draft even though he knew he could go unselected. Some warned him that, by returning for his senior year, he risked having a big season and still hurting his draft stock.
But Paschall wanted to earn his degree, and he believed that — regardless of what happened in the draft — another year under head coach Jay Wright could only better his odds of carving out an NBA niche. Though he struggled at times last season as the Wildcats’ No. 1 offensive option, Paschall improved at handling doubleteams and reading defenses.
Those strides proved important in November and December, when a rash of injuries forced Paschall to shoulder a heavy scoring load for the Warriors. He heads to Chicago ranked fifth among rookies in scoring (13.3 points per game), tied for fifth in rebounding (4.7), seventh in fieldgoal percentage (48), ninth in freethrow percentage (77.2), ninth in minutes played per game (26.7) and 16th in assists (1.7).
“There are a ton of guys coming into the league who don’t have a ton of experience,” Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said. “I think there’s a place for players like Eric who have a lot more experience and are just more prepared to play right away in the NBA.”
Paschall’s success likely will do little to change how front offices approach the draft. As long as general managers’ livelihoods depend on acquiring franchise cornerstones, they’ll draft 19yearold projects in the first round in hopes of finding the next Giannis Antetokounmpo.
That should ensure that the occasional Draymond Green or Jimmy Butler — both fouryear college players who slipped to the 30s on draft night — will be available for a team willing to prioritize production over intrigue. As for Paschall? He’s hardly upset that 29 franchises passed on him.
The Warriors signed him to a guaranteed threeyear contract just days after the draft. Whenever Paschall sees other fouryear college players who fell to the latter stages of his draft, he reminds them to “put on for the seniors.”
“If I had been drafted at 18 or 19 years old, who knows if I would’ve lasted?” Paschall said. “The NBA’s a lot different life, so it would’ve been hard for me to handle. I’m just happy it worked out the way it did.”