Grades:
Sacramento Kings – A
Portland Trailblazers – A
The Kings were certainly one of the most active teams at the trade deadline, but that doesn’t mean every move they made had an immediate — or any — impact. Count this swap with the Portland Trailblazers among those moves that fit in this category.
Skal Labissiere is an amazing story, having survived a devastating earthquake that struck his native-Haiti in 2010 when he was just 13-years-old , becoming one of the best prospects in country and eventually, a NBA player. He’s showed flashes of promise in his first two seasons in Sacramento, and appeared poised for growth in 2018-19. Unfortunately, reality took a different path, and Labissiere failed to break into the Kings rotation, playing in just 13 games (out of 54) and averaged just 8.7 minutes per game in his appearances.
Caleb Swanigan, who was also a late-first round pick, has similarly failed to deliver on his potential — though Swanigan has considerably less NBA experience, and far fewer games under his belt to suggest he will reach that potential when compared to Labissiere.
After news of the trade broke, FanSided’s Rip City Project told A Royal Pain over Twitter that Swanigan is a solid rebounder (career-high of 11 rebounds), but that his athleticism is lacking. Consensus among Blazers fans is that Swanigan is a good rebounder and even better person, whose ceiling might be Ed Davis.
Good rebounder, has struggled to shoot the ball, and has limited athleticism. He could be an energy guy off the bench. You hope he develops into a Reggie Evans/Ed Davis type.
— Rip City Project (@ripcityproject) February 7, 2019
Since coming to Sacramento, Swanigan has yet to suit up for the team, but he has played seven games for the Sacramento Kings’ G-League Affiliate, the Stockton Kings. Swanigan re-joined the Kings on March 1, but before that he compiled averages of 14.3 points, 13.0 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.1 steals per game on 46 percent shooting from the field (14.3 3PT%, 67.9 FT%) in Stockton.
Whether or not Swanigan can make that type of impact as a rebounder with Sacramento remains to be seen — if he does though, this trade quickly goes from ‘meh’ to a big win for GM Vlade Divac and Co.
Still, Swanigan is only 21-years-old and Labissiere just 22-years-old. It’s clear both players involved needed a change of scenery. Giving both of them just that, without sacrificing any draft assets means both teams get an ‘A’ for this trade, even if neither player makes a big impact in the NBA.