NBA Trade Grades: Sacramento Kings get Kent Bazemore for veteran, 2 young bigs
By Phil Watson
NBA Trade Grades: Portland brings back Swanigan, adds size
This trade will bring Caleb Swanigan back to the Portland Trail Blazers in part to fill the gap left by an injury to the player he was traded for at last year’s trade deadline, Skal Labissiere.
Swanigan, a 6-foot-9, 260-pound behemoth appropriately nicknamed “Biggie,” was the 26th overall pick by the Trail Blazers out of Purdue in the 2017 NBA Draft, but played in just 45 games and 334 minutes over the two seasons he was in Portland before being traded on Feb. 7 for Labissiere.
Swanigan, who won’t turn 23 until April 18, only appeared in 10 games for 56 minutes with Sacramento, while playing in five games — including two starts — for the team’s G League affiliate, the Stockton Kings.
He’s barely played this season, just seven games, and has five points, seven rebounds, two assists, a steal and two blocks in 23 minutes of action. He’s 2-for-4 from the field and 1-for-2 at the foul line. With Stockton, Swanigan averaged 8.6 points, 10.0 rebounds and 1.2 blocks in 19.8 minutes per game, shooting 50.0 percent overall and hitting 8-of-11 at the stripe.
But he’s not the only big body the Trail Blazers add in the deal, also picking up Wenyen Gabriel, a 6-foot-9, 220-pounder from Sudan who initially signed with the Kings on a two-way contract as an undrafted free agent in July 2018.
Last season, Gabriel did not make an appearance for Sacramento despite his two-way status, instead appearing in 42 games with 14 starts at Stockton. He averaged 10.1 points, 6.7 rebounds and 1.0 blocks in 20.8 minutes per game, shooting 49.3 percent overall and 35.8 percent on 2.3 3-point attempts per game.
Gabriel, who played two seasons at the University of Kentucky, is less than a month older than Swanigan and will be 23 in late March.
This season, he logged 61 minutes over 11 games for the Kings, scoring 19 points with 10 rebounds, three assists, three steals and two blocks. He was 6-for-17 from the floor and 1-for-8 from 3-point range.
He looked very good in the seven games he was assigned to Stockton, putting up 19.3 points, 8.9 rebounds and 1.9 blocks in 25.1 minutes per game, hitting 55.4 percent overall and 46.2 percent on 3.7 3-point attempts a night.
Portland also gets veteran Trevor Ariza in the deal. Ariza, in his 16th season at age 34, was exclusively a starter over the last six years with the Washington Wizards (twice), Houston Rockets and Phoenix Suns (briefly), has come off the bench for the Kings this year, operating as a 3-and-D wing.
In Sacramento, he was playing for former Los Angeles Lakers teammate Luke Walton, now the head coach of the Kings.
He’s averaging 6.0 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.1 steals in 24.7 minutes per game, shooting 38.8 percent overall and hitting 35.2 percent (right around his career average of 35.1 percent) from deep, taking 3.8 attempts nightly.
Ariza’s scoring is at its lowest level since he averaged 5.5 points per game in 2007-08, a season in which he played 11 games with the Orlando Magic and 24 with the Lakers.
This trade cost Portland some cap flexibility, although Gabriel and Swanigan are both on expiring deals. Gabriel can become a restricted free agent on July 1 after his $1.45 million deal expires, while Swanigan will become an unrestricted free agent after the Kings declined his fourth-year option back on Oct. 31.
This is a trade of necessity for the Trail Blazers, who were desperate for NBA-level bigs. The question is whether or not either Swanigan or Gabriel is at that level.