Caleb Swanigan

[Chuck Everett]

Swanigan's rebounding will be welcome. It's obvious that Portland realized they had issues in the frontcourt. They did great.

[RipCity71252]

Wasnt a huge fan of the pick but at least he knows how to play and has some clear strengths. You don't get both very often with late first, early 2nd guys.

I'm interested to see how he's able to defend at the NBA level though. I think he has some feel/ instincts on that end and enough size to be a non liability as a team defender but played trying not to foul a lot of the time inside, and struggled to guard space/pnr when forced to chase stretch 4's playing in those 2-big lineups w/Haas.

If hes played vs the right lineups and isn't worried about staying on the floor, I think it's fair to project some improvement here, even minus any possible improvement he makes physically.

[Roy The Natural]

Wasnt a huge fan of the pick but at least he knows how to play and has some clear strengths. You don't get both very often with late first, early 2nd guys.

I'm interested to see how he's able to defend at the NBA level though. I think he has some feel/ instincts on that end and enough size to be a non liability as a team defender but played trying not to foul a lot of the time inside, and struggled to guard space/pnr when forced to chase stretch 4's playing in those 2-big lineups w/Haas.

If hes played vs the right lineups and isn't worried about staying on the floor, I think it's fair to project some improvement here, even minus any possible improvement he makes physically.

Is there reason to believe that his defense would have any more limitations physically than guys like Randolph/Love/Diaw? I kind of feel like he's obviously going to have struggles on the defensive end at the 4, but his rebounding is pretty much all but guaranteed to transfer, I think his jumpshot is for real. He's probably got a bit of work to do in refining his post and under the basket game... but isn't there a fairly reasonable outcome in which he can become a Boris Diaw-like backup 4 for the Blazers?

[No-Man]

Diaw is worlds better as an athlete, Randolph was more athletic too, Love quicker

[Roy The Natural]

Diaw is worlds better as an athlete, Randolph was more athletic too, Love quicker

I'm not seeing it with Love... Love doesn't look pretty much any different from an athletic standpoint coming out of UCLA. I think Love was a better ballhandler though, and had a semblance of a face-up game... even if it was slow as dirt. Diaw and Randolph I could see in their prime, but I was more thinking about their old man game's from the past 4-5 years to current.

Watching Love's old UCLA tape's, I don't think there's any noticeable difference at all in athleticism between him and Swanigan to be honest. Now Love is also a bit of an outlier, and his meteoric rise to stardom was pretty shocking. I do however think that Swanigan possesses similar traits to Love coming out of UCLA. Though that doesn't mean he'll be nearly as good. Randolph and Diaw do look quicker though... well, at least Randolph WAS quicker, not so sure anymore.

They both definitely look more skilled though.

[BlazersBroncos]

I compared him to Toronto era Luis Scola (IE: 3PT shooting Scola), but with better length and girth. I think he projects best as a backup Center, and trust Zach Collins to guard PF's more-so than Caleb. That being said, he strikes me as a high floor backup type with an outside chance at starting. I simply don't think his defense will ever be starting caliber since teams will attack him like crazy on designed switches / PNR. But, he probably could give you 7/5 in like 18mpg from day 1. Kid has a pretty fine tuned offensive game and everyone that follows the draft knows rebounding translates very well from College to NBA. If he can be a long term backup to Nurkic, we got a hell of a steal. Nurkic needs to have his minutes limited during the regular season based on his injury history so PDX will have a good deal of minutes available at backup C moving forward. If things work out, this would be our future rotation:

PF - Zach Collins (30) / Caleb Swangain (4) / Small Ball PF (Harkless? Aminu? Drafted guy?) (14)
C - Jusuf Nurkic (28) / Caleb Swangain (20)

PDX wont have the $$$ to resign Vonleh with Nurkic coming up, so I personally don't hold him as part of the long term plan.

[doordoor123]

Diaw is worlds better as an athlete, Randolph was more athletic too, Love quicker

Swanigan is more athletic than you think then. He's not bad vertically and gets off his feet pretty quickly. He can be stiff at times, but has pretty good mobility. His stiffness is probably from having all that weight growing up. I wouldn't be surprised if he has to relearn moving techniques while he's thinner, but I definitely think there is something more than meets the eye with his athleticism. Of anyone in the draft he's one of the guys I think can improve most in that department because he lost so much weight. Not only between this year and last year, but he has been losing weight since high school. He was huge.

[Goldbum]

I really think he's going to surprise. So few teams have legit inside presence type guys anymore. Put him on the court with Nurkic and how many teams can defend both...

[jonjames]

I really think he's going to surprise. So few teams have legit inside presence type guys anymore. Put him on the court with Nurkic and how many teams can defend both...

Agreed. I saw some mention that hes backup center..he has too much offensive talent to be a backup he will be a starter for blazers by year 2 or3 alongside nurkic.

[StackG00dman]

I like his game. Got some draymond to him with the size/heart/passing. If only he can be half the defender. Gotta get/stay leaner and i wouldnt be shocked if he plays 10 years in the league

[Village Idiot]

Swanigan's passing skills have surprised me the most thus far. He sets great screens too and his 3 looks great. If he can improve his agility a bit he could probably start for the Blazers at PF already this year. His competition all have limitations:

- Vonleh is a bit slow to react on both ends and doesn't have much confidence in his shot. Great rebounding effort though and a quick jumper.
- Myers Leonard is really slow to react on both ends and hopefully gets moved
- Ed Davis is a great guy but not that skilled. Will probably back up C mostly
- Aminu spent a lot of time at PF and while a good perimeter defender and great for switching is overmatched in the post and is a poor rebounder
- Collins is simply not ready yet physically

[EvanZ]

Doubt that Swanigan/Nurkic is a realistic 4/5 combo.

Aminu is still their best option at the 4, especially with Nurk there.