Warriors desperately need Eric Paschall back, Alen Smailagic to step up

The Golden State Warriors are going to be without small-ball forward Juan Toscano-Anderson until he clears concussion protocol. JTA went down after diving over the scores table to save a loose ball. Curry rewarded his hustle by quickly splashing home a three.

It was an impressive save, but one that will be costly for the Warriors. In the time that JTA misses, they’re going to need a few unlikely faces to step up. Second-year, former second-round picks Eric Paschall and Alen Samilagic must be impactful for the Dubs.

With Juan Toscano-Anderson out, the Golden State Warriors need both Eric Paschall and Alen Smailagic to step up as their frontcourt struggles continue.

Paschall has been injured and could practice during this upcoming trip to the East Coast. The Warriors still have games against the Wizards and Sixers. He needs to miss one or two more games, not two or three more weeks.

While that’s obviously not his personal doing, the Warriors need to hope they get Paschall back because their frontcourt depth is currently Kevon Looney, and that’s it. As for a player that must step up, Alen Smailagic must start to make his presence felt.

Golden State drafted both players along with Jordan Poole in the 2019 NBA Draft. With James Wiseman out for the season, the Dubs need Smiley to do some work. He’s played in seven games, starting one.

The 6-foot-10 power forward would give the Warriors much-needed size. Averaging just 5.1 minutes per game, Smiley is scoring a fraction of what he was last season, notching just 2.1 points per contest.

While that’s not that bad given his minutes, Smailagic needs to get more involved. They were high on him in the draft, and it’s time that he shows what his value is. The Dubs need him.

After averaging around five minutes per game in back-to-back appearances, Smiley didn’t play against the Celtics. With JTA out, he’ll likely be forced to step up. 2-for-5 from deep this season, there’s hope that Smiley may be able to space the floor as well.

The Warriors need to figure out their frontcourt rotation in the near future. It’ll be important that these two incorporate themselves in that rotation sooner rather than later as Wiseman and JTA’s absence will weigh on the team’s rebounding and defense.