Big man Caleb Swanigan remains unsigned by an NBA team. The ex Portland Trail Blazers draft pick is almost certainly out of the league.
Caleb Swanigan was drafted 26th overall by the Portland Trail Blazers in the 2017 NBA Draft. As an undersized center who dominated as a traditional big in the NCAA, he was going out of fashion at the NBA level.
NBA teams may have picked ” tweeners, ” in the past, the nickname given to power forwards who dominated at the NCAA level, but invariably, these players couldn’t shoot and were unable to defend at the NBA level.
Swanigan only played 75 games in three years in the NBA, averaging just 8 minutes a game.
After choosing to opt-out of the NBA bubble return with the Blazers, it was almost certain that he wouldn’t be on an NBA team come free agency this off-season. So far, he hasn’t signed even a training camp deal with a team, likely meaning he will be plying his trade in Europe.
Swanigan had the fourth-year of his rookie contract declined by the Sacramento Kings and was then salary fodder in a trade back to the Blazers in 2020, after the Blazers had originally dumped him on the Kings in 2019.
Swanigan has the touch and skill required for the NBA but needs to transform his body and game in an overseas league, to show he has what it takes to play in the game again at the highest levels.
He needs to work on his shooting and defense especially. Swanigan’s professional career isn’t over; he just needs to work on certain skills to get back to the NBA.