Blazers Trade Caleb Swanigan to Sacramento Kings for Skal Labissiere
The Trail Blazers did, in fact, make a trade before Thursday’s Trade Deadline, sending forward Caleb Swanigan to the Sacramento Kings in exchange for power fowrard Skal Labissiere.
Labissiere (pronounced La-bee-SEE-AIR\ per Basketball Reference) has played in thirteen games this year, averaging 8.7 minutes and 2.8 points per game.
Labissiere is 6’11 235lbs, and was a first-round pick of the Phoenix Suns in the 2016 NBA Draft (28th overall) after playing one season at Kentucky.
When he came to Kentucky as a freshman many pundits thought Labissiere could be a future number-one overall pick, but his only season in Lexington went poorly, seeing per game averages of just 6.6 points and 3.1 rebounds per game.
Swanigan leaves Portland after being a first-round pick of the Trail Blazers in the 2017 NBA Draft out of Purdue (26th overall). He played 45 overall games for the Blazers in just under two seasons, posting per game averages of 2.1 points, 2.4 rebounds, and 8.1 rebounds.
The move for the saves $546,385 total for the Blazers, taking the Blazers tax bill down to $12.24 Million.