The Golden State Warriors didn't expect much from Eric Paschall in his first season in the league.

However, Paschall, who was selected by the Warriors with the 41st overall pick in 2019, exceeded everyone's expectations. The 23-year-old rookie became the first Warriors player to be named to an All-Rookie Team since 2013, and the latest draft selection in franchise history to accomplish that feat.

Warriors assistant general manager Kirk Lacob knows that they have a star in the making in Paschall. During a recent interview with Forbes' Patrick Murray, he explained what excites him the most about Paschall.

“We are big fans of Eric, I think that's well known,” Lacob said. “Every time he steps on the floor he appears to be the most physical guy out there. And he's been working doggedly on his shot with [player development coach] Theo Robertson, who's done a really good job with him.

“Obviously we were really excited. He showed so much last year in terms of one-on-one ability, and that pull-up mid-range shot. It was just a matter of extending it out, but he showed that he can hit a jumper, which was great. And they put in a lot of work. I mean, Eric is an extremely, extremely hard worker. So his shot looks good. My bet is that it will look even better by the time we get to the season, because they were tweaking quite a few things this summer to make it a little bit more smooth from deep. But it looks good right now. We're really excited to see what year two has in store for him.”

This past season, Paschall averaged 13.9 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.1 assists in 27.6 minutes per game. His impressive play during his rookie campaign earned him a pair of third-place votes in the NBA’s race for Rookie of the Year. He finished No. 6 in the 2020 Rookie of the Year voting, which was very well deserved.

However, Paschall does have some flaws in his game. During his rookie campaign, he struggled to defend at times and was sometimes a defensive liability. However, the Warriors believe he'll get better as the season progresses. Furthermore, having Draymond Green as his teammate will surely help in the future.

“Defensively, he's got the physical ability to guard,” Lacob continued. “And he comes from obviously a great program in Villanova with Jay Wright. They do a phenomenal job, every player who makes it to the NBA from Villanova knows what they're doing on that side of the ball.

“But it's hard to defend as a rookie in the NBA. And it's even harder when you've got a bunch of other young players around you. So we think he did an admirable job last year despite the circumstances. We expect more from him this year, really excited to see how he fits in some different lineups. But we do think his physicality and his kind of mental makeup are really good, and we expect a big leap from him defensively this year. And then I would even say, we are really tracking his defensive ability into years three and four, but we think this next year is going to be a huge stepping stone for him. It's really important to us, and we think that you know, he's right on track.”