Portland Trail Blazers big man Caleb Swanigan has opted out of the NBA’s restart in Orlando. This is a strange move considering he is a pending free agent.
Portland Trail Blazers big man Caleb Swanigan will not participate in the NBA’s return in Orlando in August. Blazers General Manager Neil Olshey confirmed Swanigan’s decision, citing personal reasons. We won’t blame or criticize any player who chooses not to participate, but it seems strange that Swanigan doesn’t want to join the Blazers in the season return.
His fourth-year option was declined by the Sacramento Kings when he was with them, meaning he will be an unrestricted free agent when it comes time for free agency in the adapted October window.
Swanigan must see the bubble as too much of a risk for his health. But he will unfortunately not be able to put himself in the shop window to show he is worthy of his next deal on another team for 2021.
Though he likely wasn’t going to play any more than third-string big minutes in Orlando, it is still a loss for this team. They now need to find a third-string big and compete with other potential teams.
With Carmelo Anthony now slated to play at the three with Trevor Ariza‘s withdrawal, this means that they have a lack of big men outside of Zach Collins, Hassan Whiteside, and Jusuf Nurkic. Swanigan and Wenyen Gabriel were inline to be the 4th and 5th bigs.
It remains to be seen whether the Blazers think they need a fifth big, but with the return of Collins and Nurkic from injury, it may be safe to sign one just in case.
There isn’t a massive amount of quality bigs available, but if they wanted to, they should be able to sign someone who would be happy playing up to 12 minutes a night.
For Swanigan and the future of his career, we wish him all the best and hope he can continue his professional career one way or another.