The Golden State Warriors have signed rookie guard Jordan Poole, forward Eric Paschall (PASS-cull) and forward Alen Smailagic (SMY-luh-geech) to contracts, the team announced today. Per team policy, terms of the agreements were not released.
The Warriors selected Poole with the 28th overall pick of the first round and Paschall with the 41st overall pick of the second round of the 2019 NBA Draft. Golden State acquired the draft rights to Smailagic, the 39th overall selection of the second round, from the New Orleans Pelicans in exchange for the Warriors’ 2021 and 2023 second round selections and cash considerations on June 20, 2019.
Poole, 20, averaged 9.3 points, 2.1 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 22.4 minutes over 76 career games in two seasons at Michigan. During his sophomore campaign, the 6’5” guard was named a 2018-19 All-Big Ten Honorable Mention selection, averaging 12.8 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.2 assists and 1.08 steals in 33.1 minutes over 37 games (all starts). The Wolverines won 30-or-more games in both of his seasons with the team and advanced to the NCAA Championship Game in 2018.
Paschall, 22, spent three seasons at Villanova, averaging 11.4 points, 5.1 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 29.2 minutes in 110 career games, helping the Wildcats to a national championship as a junior in 2017-18. The 6’9” forward was named to the 2018-19 All-Big East First Team after averaging 16.5 points, 6.1 rebounds and 2.1 assists in 36.1 minutes over 36 games (all starts) as a senior. He began his collegiate career at Fordham, where he was named 2014-15 Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year in his lone season with the Rams.
Smailagić, 18, played the 2018-19 season with the G League’s Santa Cruz Warriors, averaging 9.1 points, 4.0 rebounds, 1.0 assist and 17.4 minutes over 47 games. The Serbian native spent the 2017-18 season with Beko in Serbia’s third division, averaging 15.9 points on 69.0 percent from the field to go with 5.0 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 10 games. The 6’10 forward was named MVP of Serbia’s U-19 league in 2017-18, averaging 21.7 points and 11.1 rebounds in 19 games.
