Blazers just issued press releases as they formally sign Collins and Swanigan: http://www.nba.com/blazers/trail-blazers-sign-caleb-swanigan http://www.nba.com/blazers/news/trail-blazers-sign-zach-collins
Given our tax situation, I wonder if Neil tried to sweet talk them into taking less than the standard 120% of the rookie pay scale. BNM
Could be why they are not revealung the details of the signings....but i think teams do that anyways.
I gotta say i'm excited to see these two in summer league. It's not just their talent level that makes me think they're gonna to be good, it's what's these kids have between their ear's. Listen to the interviews! They both have an aggressive attitude coupled with a high bbiq. No weak minds from this draft!! Caleb looks like he could be a beast. Zach could be a rookie of the year candidate if he can get some minutes. (i pushed it with that last comment)
How can Zach be Rookie of the Year, when LaVar Ball will be on TV (and youtube channel) every time his Lonzo has an assist? LaVar will probably announce the ROY in December and repeat it on TV every single night. I would be shocked if Fox or ESPN don't give the man his own show. The Man will probably have more followers than DJ Trump and Obama combined ...
Collins has absolutely no reason to do that, just to save Paul Allen money when his salary is already constrained by the CBA. Most first-round picks don't--but considering most people had Swanigan as a fringe first-rounder, it's possible that Olshey pulled Presti's old trick and offered Swanigan a deal where he'd pick him in the first round but only if he accepted a D-League assignment and significantly less money. It's pretty unlikely. Josh Huestis was a likely deep second-rounder--Swanigan was a potential first-rounder. But not totally impossible, I guess.