Caleb Swanigan: Purdue, Sophomore, Power Forward/Center 6’9”, 260lbs
Caleb Swanigan is a shorter PF/C, but that has not deterred him in the slightest. This can be seen when he was named to the Late Season Wooden Award watch list. There are a number of reasons why he has come upon the honor.
The best thing that Swanigan does is rebound. He is second in the nation with 12.5 boards per game and owns a 22.9% total rebounding percentage. There is a myriad of things that he does to achieve this. He plays powerfully and does not allow himself to get bogged down on smaller defenders trying to box him out. With an incredible nose for the ball, he is constantly hunting it, no matter where he is on the court. He also has an outstanding knowledge of how to make sure he is the right position to get the ball.
On offense, Swanigan became a top-notch scorer in between his freshman and sophomore year. This year he is averaging 18.6 points per contest, which is a serious improvement from 10.2 ppg as a freshman. The most significant reason for his improvement is his uptick in efficiency. He boasts splits of 54.0% from the field, 45.5% from three and 79.3% from the foul line. These are all improvements from his first season in West Lafayette.
He has become a multidimensional player on offense. With an outstanding sense of where the defender is and great positioning, Swanigan is almost always open in the post. While still able to overpower smaller defenders inside and bully his way to close shots and the foul line, he has expanded his range. His midrange game has become extremely proficient with his ability to turn and face and connect on a jumper even with a defender on him.
A willingness to step out to the 3-point line has been quite beneficial to him. He has made 30 treys on the year, good for 1.0 per game. Yet with such a small sample size, it is hard to tell if he can continue to shoot threes at this level in the NBA. Most of his attempts from outside the arc are wide open and in rhythm off of a pass. With a deeper line in the NBA and better closeouts I am skeptical that Swanigan will be able to keep his range at the next level.
Swanigan has also shown to be unselfish. He averages 2.8 assists per game, which is good for a big man. Those assists are also a product of the inside-outside game that is Purdue’s offense. He knows when to pass it out of the post to the open man. While those assist numbers are good, Swanigan must learn how to take care of the ball. This criticism is a reflection of his 3.4 turnovers per game and 18.8 turnover percentage. The better care he can take care of the ball, the easier it will be for him to find playing time early in his career.
On defense Swanigan needs improvement. He is good a post defender but is not often tested as a perimeter stopper. His quickness needs to improve if he is to play the four in the NBA and be able to keep up with the players of the small ball trend. As for rim protection, he offers little to none. Swanigan only averages 0.8 blocks per game and his block percentage of 2.4% is paltry compared to Oregon’s Chris Boucher’s 11.6 block percentage. Swanigan also rarely gets steals, as he has only racked up 12 on the year.
A lack of athleticism could also hinder Swaningan in the NBA. He has overcome it in college by being stronger and more skilled, but that won’t always happen in the NBA. This lack of athleticism will prevent Swanigan from becoming elite at rim running, which is a highly coveted aspect of big men in today’s NBA.
How productive Swanigan will be in the NBA is still up in the air. It will be harder for him to overpower bigger and stronger defenders in the NBA on offense. He will also have to become significantly better at defense with regard to either foot speed or rim protection if he wants to be a power forward or center respectively. His rebounding should translate because he does not rely on superior athleticism that would be not as significant a difference as it would be in college.
With regards to being on the Lakers, it would take a little bit to make Swanigan fit. I think that he is best at center, but pairing him with Julius Randle in the front court would have problems. Defense in the front court would become a bigger problem than it already is. There would be no rim protection, and with the defensive struggles at guard and wing for the Lakers, rim protection is something that they need desperately.
Offensively, it could work playing Swanigan and Randle together. If Luke Walton does want to turn Randle into a playmaking four, then Swanigan’s tough interior game should fit nicely. This is if one of them develops a consistent NBA three-pointer. If not then there would be no floor spacing and defenders could sag and help against our driving guards and forwards.
Swanigan would definitely help the Lakers with rebounding. With Randle averaging 1.8 rebounds less than he did last year an influx of glass crashing would be welcomed. His scoring ability would also be a nice service to add to the front court bench.