Blazers: 5 goals for Caleb Swanigan to achieve in 2018-2019

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PORTLAND, OR – DECEMBER 7: Caleb Swanigan #50 of the Portland Trail Blazers shoots the ball during an all access practice on December 7, 2017 at the Trail Blazer Practice Facility in Portland, Oregon. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Sam Forencich/NBAE via Getty Images) /

Three-point shooting

The Blazers didn’t draft Swanigan to be a stretch four – they selected Collins for that role. Still, he took his fair share of three-pointers across various levels of competition during his rookie season.

Preseason: 0.5-for-1.1 (42.9%)
G-League: 0.6-for-1.9 (30.8%)
Regular season: 0.0-for-0.3 (12.5% – he shot eight threes the whole year)
2018 Summer League: 0.6-for-1.3 (44.4%)

As with his other stats, Swanigan failed to replicate his three-point shooting success from the G-League and Summer League at the NBA level. The brief flashes of over 40% shooting provide hope, but such small sample sizes hint that inconsistency will be the theme of his outside shooting.

By design, Portland’s bench will be full of three-point shooters. Like Davis did in 2017-2018, Swanigan will spend a majority of his time inside the three-point line to make sure there’s a body in the paint.

Sharing the frontcourt with Collins makes his interior presence especially important as Collins doesn’t have the frame to body opponents down low.

So, for his second NBA campaign, Swanigan needs to be smart with his three-point shots. The only time he should hang on the perimeter is for the rare pick-and-pop when the opposing center sags too much. These open attempts can boost Swanigan’s three-point percentage to its Summer League levels, as well as limit the number of possessions in which Portland has no one in the paint.