The Utah Jazz had an understated, yet busy 2021 NBA offseason. Between the acquisitions of Rudy Gay, Hassan Whiteside and Eric Paschall, General Manager Justin Zanik added a platoon of quality NBA rotation players. Out of all those additions, Eric Paschall may be the most interesting.
Unlike longtime NBA veterans Gay and Whiteside, Paschall’s career arc is still to be determined. At 24, Paschall is about to enter his third NBA season. To date, he’s proven a solid offensive contributor with some defensive limitations on a contending Golden State Warriors team.
Offensively, Paschall actually enjoyed a larger slice of the Warriors’ offensive pie in his rookie season, sporting an impressive average of 14.0 points per game in 2019-20. That number slipped to 9.5 points per game last season, but Utah Jazz fans need not fret, as Paschall’s minutes per game also lowered substantially, from 27.6 to 17.4 minutes per contest. Per 36 minutes, his scoring actually improved, taking a leap from 18.2 points to 19.7 points per 36 minutes.
Certainly, those numbers are indicative of a player with a wealth of offensive talent. In all likelihood, the dismal 117 Defensive Rating he posted in his rookie season forced Warriors coach Steve Kerr to claw back some of Paschall’s minutes in his sophomore year, where that number actually improved to 113. If Paschall can continue to trend in a positive direction by that metric, his ceiling as a member of the Utah Jazz raises considerably.
That’s what makes Paschall the Jazz’s most interesting acquisition: we don’t know what kind of longterm NBA contributor he’ll be yet. Here are three players from NBA history that he could turn to for inspiration.