Portland Trail Blazers big man Caleb Swanigan has opted out of the NBA’s restart in Orlando. Which free agency replacements could they sign to replace them?
Portland Trail Blazers big man Caleb Swanigan has opted out of the NBA’s restart in Orlando, citing personal concerns. With the announcement recently that ex-Atlanta Hawks point guard Jaylen Adams would be replacing Trevor Ariza and Carmelo Anthony would be shifting to small forward, this means that the Blazers are now short of at least one big man.
Behind Jusuf Nurkic, Zach Collins, and Hassan Whiteside, they only have one other big man, rookie Wenyen Gabriel. Considering that both Collins and Nurkic will return from long injury layoffs, they will need some backup as this pair ease their way back into NBA basketball. Gabriel is a fitting end of bench option, but he is very raw and not experienced.
The Blazers need one more big man to provide leadership and be available in case of an injury or if one of the regular bigs gets in foul trouble. There aren’t a vast amount of competent NBA bigs available on the open market, but they aren’t looking for a starter – just a backup.
Below are three options that could fit this team well and are still available in free agency.
Swanigan replacement number one – Amir Johnson
14-year NBA veteran Amir Johnson isn’t currently on an NBA roster. Still, it was only a year ago that he played 51 regular-season games for a Philadelphia 76ers team that made the Eastern Conference semi-finals.
Johnson has played 870 regular-season games and has varied playoff experience with the Boston Celtics, Detroit Pistons and Toronto Raptors.
Though he’s a traditional big in terms of his skill set, he is a great offensive rebounder and an excellent passer for his position. His lack of shooting isn’t a problem as he would only be coming on as a backup, he would likely play less than 10 minutes a night unless there was a significant injury or a player was fouled out.
Johnson, throughout his career, has been in the upper ranks of leaderboards for both steal rate and block rate, a rare achievement for a big man.
He is still only 33 and has a reputation as a great locker room presence. Johnson may not be the most exciting addition for a playoff team, but bigs with playoff experience aren’t plentiful, so Johnson may well be signed by a team heading to the Orlando bubble.