Worst Starter No. 5 – Eric Paschall
There were not a lot of highlights from the 2019-20 season. Stephen Curry broke his hand and joined Klay Thompson on the shelf, playing just five games total. Draymond Green loaded through a noncompetitive season. The team had dumped franchise icon Andre Iguodala in order to sign D’Angelo Russell to a max contract, and he was clearly a poor fit for Warriors basketball. It was a difficult time.
One of the lone bright spots was Eric Paschall, one of the Warriors’ second-round picks that year. The rookie power forward out of VIllanova came out of the gates scoring, averaging 14 points per game despite only starting a third of his games. He was fast enough to beat bigs to the cup, and strong enough to bully guards and wings.
The problem for Paschall was that he couldn’t transition to a smaller role when the team’s stars were back. He wasn’t much of a shooter or cutter, and he was a defensive target in the frontcourt. He needed the ball in his hands, and he wasn’t going to get that on a good Warriors team. They moved him after his second season with the team, and he, unfortunately, didn’t stick in Utah either and dropped out of the NBA a year later.