Donovan Mitchell and the Utah Jazz are in the middle of a rebuild. They were eliminated by Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks in the first round of the NBA playoffs. This was considered a huge failure and disappointment as the Jazz were considered to have a more complete roster. The team has decided to move on from Eric Paschall and not offer him a second year with them for this upcoming season.
Appreciate you Utah!! 🙏🏾🙏🏾
— Eric Paschall (@epaschall) June 30, 2022
The disappointing loss to the Mavs led to their coach Quin Snyder leaving. The Jazz has no real cap space due to Donovan’s and Rudy Gobert’s max contracts. Therefore, they chose to let go of Paschall despite him having a close bond with Mitchell.
Donovan Mitchell called Eric Paschall a bum for leaving the Utah Jazz
Many NBA players are close friends. This statement holds true for Paschall and Mitchell who have always been close. They have a bond going back to their days of playing in AAU tournaments together. When Eric was traded from the Warriors to the Jazz, the two friends had a chance to play together as teammates. However, just a quick year later things have changed yet again for them.
Eric was not a starter for the Jazz. He averaged 5.8 points in roughly only about 12 minutes per game. Moreover, he was quite efficient for Utah, shooting 48% from the field and 37% from the three-point line. Despite these solid stats for a bench player, he was not offered a minimum extension and can now become an unrestricted free agent that any team can sign.
Since “Spida” and Eric are close friends. It is highly unlikely that Mitchell meant anything hurtful or negative when he called Paschall a “bum” for leaving the Utah Jazz. Moreover, he did so in response to a tweet initially sent by Eric thanking the team for his stay there.
Bum
— Donovan Mitchell (@spidadmitchell) June 30, 2022
One cannot expect the players to be perfectly fine with the constant trades and signings that teams engage in to stay competitive in the NBA. Be that as it may, Donovan should have realized that this was not Paschall’s fault. He was probably willing to come back with the Jazz for a second year.
The Utah Jazz was unwilling to pay Paschall a comparatively low minimum offer of roughly 2.2 million dollars in order to keep him. Instead, they chose to part ways with him. Hopefully, Mitchell soon realizes, if he hasn’t already, that his team is responsible for his old friend leaving.