Portland Trail Blazers: Complete 2017 offseason grades
Drafting Caleb Swanigan
If my life and the lives of my entire family were on the line and I was forced to choose one of the players from this year’s Blazers Summer League squad to play on my behalf, I would — without any doubt in my mind — choose Caleb Swanigan.
That may sound like one of those ESPN statistics that are unnecessarily specific so that it fits a particular narrative, but if there’s one thing that Swanigan proved this summer, it’s that he was an absolute steal in this year’s draft.
Averaging 16.1 points and 10.6 rebounds, he was a double-double machine this summer in Las Vegas, unexpectedly helping lead his team to the 2017 NBA Summer League tournament championship game.
A. Double-double machine in Summer League. NBA-ready rookie. Bulldog mentality, yet easy to like.. PF/C. Portland Trail Blazers. CALEB SWANIGAN
While the Blazers eventually took the L to Lonzo Ball and the Los Angeles Lakers’ Summer League squad, Swanigan proved himself NBA-ready, which was by far the best takeaway from this summer in Vegas.