It’s somewhat sad to think about, but we could be seeing peak Eric Paschall right now. He’s averaging 14 a game, which isn’t a lot when you think about all the crazy stuff that goes on in the NBA on a nightly basis, but is a lot for a player of his pedigree and caliber. Even good players will have a difficult time averaging that many if they’re not in a good situation, and Paschall is in pretty much the best situation possible right now.
Right now, he gets to score the ball because there aren’t many other options to do so. He can take the shots he wants to take. He wants to take standstill midrange jumpers? He can do it all game. But will there ever be another time in his career where he gets this same free reign to do what he wants on offense?
Next year’s Warriors, no way. Everyone will be back (except for Kevin Durant), and his opportunities will go way down. But what about later in his career? I don’t know, I’m just finding it hard to imagine a team saying “yeah, let’s pick up that Paschall dude and make him the focal point of our offense”. Because it’s just Eric Paschall. He’s just a guy, a guy in a good situation right now but not really a number-one option type of scorer.
Who knows, though. He’s a rookie, and rookies sometimes do get better. And there are always tanking teams who are looking for their next tank commander.