Paschall Provides Defense, Decision-Making as a Backup 4

Paschall’s size, defense and decision-making have made a positive early impact. (Carmen Mandato via utahjazz.com)

After six games, the Jazz once again sit atop the league by record and a close second in net rating. Remove garbage time, and Utah owns the second best point differential, fourth best offense, and third best defense. Yes, it’s only been six games, but this is a continuation of last season, so the success feels real. Evaluating more specific pieces gets murkier with the small sample size. For example, we know Donovan Mitchell’s 32% 3-point shooting is going to go up. It’s nothing to get too worked up about at this point in the season.

With that obvious caveat out of the way, let’s take a closer look at a young player that is exciting Jazz nation. While I’m still high on rookie Jared Butler, right now I’m referring to Eric Paschall, who has had a surprising impact on the Jazz’s success early on.

For a guy that was basically given away by his former team and is averaging 5/3/1 in 16 minutes, this may be surprising. But watch Paschall play, and his impact jumps off the screen. A few things have caught my eye:

A transformed shot profile

Before the season, Paschall presaged how his game would change:

“I already know they put ‘em up. I’ve been working on my 3[-point shot] all summer. All I know is you have to be ready to shoot 3s. It kind of reminds me of my college days at Villanova — coach [Jay] Wright used to teach us to catch to shoot. The year we won the championship, I think we set the record for the most 3s in an NCAA season. So I know what I’m getting into, and I’m very excited to be a part of it.”

His actions back up his words. Last season only 13% of his attempted shots were threes. This season? 62%! I’m not sure I’ve seen such a dramatic one season jump, and I’ll be watching how that frequency holds. Regardless, we’ve seen players transform their shot profiles time and time again when moving from another team to play for Jazz coach Quin Snyder.

Paschall came to the Jazz with a reputation of a midrange bruiser, taking 45% of his shots from that area with the Warriors (91st percentile in the league). That number is now down to 15%, which is much lower than I expected. We saw Emmanual Mudiay retain his midrange shot with the Jazz as it was his primary weapon. Not so with Paschall, and that commitment to fitting with Utah’s system is impressive. Something to keep an eye on.

Paschall opened the year hitting them at a 44% accuracy. I don’t expect that to maintain, and sure enough, the weekend back-to-back dropped his season percentage down to 36%, a bit closer to the 29% and 33% he shot in his first two years. But with more space and fewer contested shots, it’s not unreasonable to expect he’ll hold somewhere in the mid 30s. He just needs to be accurate enough to keep his defender honest and preserve a spread floor. Thus far, Paschall has shown to be a willing shooter when open.

Decision making

Speaking of which, I’ve also been impressed with Paschall’s decision making. While I like the comparison to Jae Crowder, who had a similar physical profile and was not gun-shy from three (which to his credit, did keep his defenders honest) — Crowder had a tendency to take shots when better options were available.

Paschall has flashed examples of deference to better shooters.

Here he passes up a potential contested layup for a pass to a wide open Joe Ingles:

And here he passes up his own open three, again to just-as-open Ingles:

What’s more, Eric can put the ball on the floor. The difference between his ball handling and his predecessors at the backup 4 and 5 last season is stark. When Georges Niang or Derrick Favors received a pass, it was usually only because they were open for a three or rolling toward the basket. Paschall can put the ball on the deck, force the defense to rotate, then kick out to an open shooter.

And Paschall doesn’t need to be a big assist guy — more so the Jazz need him to be a connector — a decision maker who can immediately take an open shot or move the ball to a primary facilitator.

Usage

Which brings us to the stat I’m most excited about: his usage rate. This number is an estimate of team plays used by a player while on the floor. For reference, last season Donovan Mitchell led the team (and almost the league) with a 33.5% usage rate. Paschall’s was 23.5% last season — extremely high for a second year, second round pick. But the Warriors were depleted and needed his scoring off the bench.

With the Jazz, Paschall usage is down to 11.6%. That’s Royce O’Neale territory. And that’s what the Jazz need from him.

Eric’s most common lineup is with Mike Conley, Jordan Clarkson, Ingles, and Rudy Gobert. With three ball handlers and a roll threat, Paschall stopping the ball would be detrimental. But he’s been a seamless fit so far. And that unit is demolishing opponents, with a +23 efficiency differential in 81 possessions. Yes, this is the lineup where Rudy and Mike come back in against opposing bench units, so that context is important.

Perimeter defense

What those bench-crushing lineups do need is size and perimeter defense. Niang made a terrific leap in defense, but he still lacked the lateral quickness and the brick-wall stoutness Paschall provides. Paschall has not been known as a good defensive player in the past, but what we’ve seen so far is encouraging.

The biggest example was in the Denver game, when Will Barton torched several Utah defenders. Enter Paschall, who matched the shifty Barton move for move. It allowed Gobert to stick on Michael Porter Junior, who is a lethal shooter when given space.

The physical tools are there. This play displays a rare combination of movement and size. Can this kind of defense be sustained? We’ll watch for effort and defensive IQ throughout the season. Playing in lineups with Gobert will certainly help him shine.

The minutes crunch

All of this in encouraging. While I expect some of Paschall’s numbers to regress, he is playing the right way in the right role. It’s both a luxury and a potential conundrum.

Last season’s playoff matchup against the Clippers partially came down to whose end-of-bench guys showed up. Both teams were hit by injuries, and LA’s depth won out. Terrance Mann went from DNPs to hero of the series. Utah’s deep rotation couldn’t overcome the lack of ball handling and perimeter defense.

The Jazz should feel more comfortable with their depth so far. And we haven’t even seen their key offseason acquisition in Rudy Gay lace up yet. Gay should play around twenty minutes, and it feels like Paschall’s sixteen minutes are going to be the main source.

It will be tough to push Eric out of the rotation when he’s been playing so well. While it seems unlikely, Quin did experiment with a 10-man rotation, and maybe he’ll do something to accommodate Paschall, who could thrive in limited minutes in an energy and dirty work role.

But Paschall will likely find opportunity in other ways. Conley, Ingles, and Gay are in their mid thirties and could strategically rest. Whiteside (who deserves his own expanded shoutout) may hit rough patches in the season, and I’m curious how Gay and Paschall play together sharing front court duties. And if the Jazz continue their net rating dominance, maybe Snyder will rein in the starter minutes and allow more “garbage time” play for the end of bench rotation.

If the minutes problem becomes a real problem — and related, if number of offensive touches becomes a problem — solid play from Paschall gives Utah the flexibility to make a trade if needed. And even if the roster remains the same (which feels likely), Paschall’s willingness to defer shots makes him a great plug-and-play fit with most lineups.

Not too shabby a pickup for a protected 2026 second round pick.