Golden State Warriors: Eric Paschall will become a starter, but when?

Eric Paschall looks primed to become a key piece to the future of the Golden State Warriors. It’s only a matter of time until he surpasses the incumbent power forward Draymond Green for the starting role.

Eric Paschall is turning heads in his rookie year for the Golden State Warriors.

Averaging 14 points per game with an impressive balance of skill and strength, Paschall is making draft scouts scratch their heads as to how they let him drop to the 41st pick.

After a blazing start to his rookie campaign, followed by a bit of a slump, Paschall is now playing his best basketball of the season for Golden State, steadily improving and becoming a dynamic player in Steve Kerr’s motion system.

Over the past 7 games, which included impressive wins against Denver and Philadelphia, he has been averaging nearly 20 points per on 59% shooting.

With Draymond Green missing games as he tends to a sore knee, Paschall has fully taken advantage of the newly vacated minutes at the power forward position.

Watching Paschall play, one can only imagine that he has a spot in future starting lineups for the Warriors. The question is just how quick he can nudge out the ‘aging’ Draymond Green.

Survival of the fittest

Having a youngster nipping at the heels of an incumbent starter is a scenario that Draymond Green knows all too well.

Green began to gain serious traction in the rotation during his sophomore season under head coach Mark Jackson.

The starting role belonged to the handsomely paid power forward David Lee, who was averaging 18 points per game.

However, when Lee went down with an injury at the end of the 2013-14 season, Green stepped into the role and played so well that Jackson couldn’t afford to not start him.

Despite earning just a fraction of the salary of Lee, Green reclaimed the starting role in 2014-15 preseason after another injury to Lee.

The rest is history. Green cemented his role on the squad and helped lead the Warriors to the title that year.

The roles are now reversed, with Green on the backend of his glory years and Paschall becoming a rising star, beginning to solidify his role on the team.

https://twitter.com/warriors/status/1236476956910030849

When will Draymond pass the torch?

While Draymond has shown flashes of the former defensive player of the year version of himself this season, he largely appears to be in decline, becoming less productive as he enters his 30’s.

I definitely don’t think Draymond’s minutes as a productive starter are behind him, but as he ages, one can only imagine eventually that role will go to Paschall.

Green was 24 when he replaced the 31-year-old David Lee in the starting lineup.

Similarly, Paschall is currently 23 years old and Green is 30.

The passing of the torch to Paschall will surely not happen next year, as the Warriors look to make another run at a title with the returns of healthy Steph Curry and Klay Thompson.

However, how Green plays with the healthy version of the Dubs next year will be quite telling for his future.

Could Draymond be past his prime, as we saw with the swift decline of David Lee in his early 30’s?

Or possibly Draymond’s off-year will rejuvenate him and add a few more years of productive basketball to his career.

Regardless, the future belongs to Paschall. It just depends on if the future is still a distant few years down the road, or sooner than we think.