Warriors trade Eric Paschall to Jazz for protected future second-round pick

The Warriors have agreed to trade forward Eric Paschall to the Jazz in exchange for a future protected second-round pick, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. That pick will be Memphis’ 2026 second-rounder, with top-42 protection, per Anthony Slater of The Athletic.

Paschall, 24, has spent his first two NBA seasons in Golden State after being selected with the 41st overall pick in the 2019 draft and has been a regular rotation player for the team during that time. In 100 career games with the Warriors, he has averaged 12.2 points and 4.0 rebounds per game on .497/.301/.755 shooting in 23.5 minutes per contest.

After a strong rookie year, Paschall’s numbers dipped a little in 2020-21, and he missed a chunk of the season due to a hip injury. Slater suggested in May that the big man’s future with the organization might be “tenuous,” and it looks like he was right. The deal will open up a roster spot and should create a small amount of tax savings for the Warriors.

Paschall will get a chance for a fresh start in Utah, providing frontcourt depth and playing alongside his close friend Donovan Mitchell. The two players grew up together in Westchester County, New York.

Paschall is technically earning the veteran’s minimum this season, but he can’t be absorbed using the minimum-salary exception because his contract was a three-year deal. Since Utah isn’t sending out any salary in the deal, the team will use one of its trade exceptions to take on Paschall’s $1.78M salary. The exception created in last year’s Tony Bradley trade still has more than $2M left on it and will expire soon, making it the best fit.

Tony Jones of The Athletic first identified Paschall as a Jazz trade target on Monday.