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The Golden State Warriors have traded PF Eric Paschall to the Utah Jazz for a protected future second-round pick, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. The Dubs sort of had a logjam at power forward with Draymond Green, Kevon Looney and 2021 first-round pick Jonathan Kuminga. Paschall had one year remaining on his contract at $1.7 million before becoming a restricted free agent. The Warriors also added Otto Porter Jr. and Nemanja Bjelica via free agency.
The Jazz really don’t have any pure PFs on their roster so far in free agency and this offseason. Royce O’Neale spent most of last season starting at PF with Utah playing mostly big and small. Rudy Gobert and Hassan Whiteside will hold things down in the paint well enough for the Jazz to run smaller lineups with more shooters.
Adding Paschall gives the Jazz another option at forward. He’s a bit undersized at 6-foot-6 but can stretch the floor and still has some upside at 24 years old. After averaging 14 points per game as a rookie, Paschall fell out of favor with coach Steve Kerr. Paschall dealt with injuries and Covid protocols in 2020-21 and only played in 40 games, averaging 9.5 points. Paschall is also a close childhood friend of Jazz star Donovan Mitchell, per Woj.