Caleb Swanigan and Vince Edwards Decision Timeline

With the deadline to decide on their futures being May 25th we're within a week of when Vince Edwards and Caleb Swanigan will announce their intention to stay in the NBA Draft or return. It appears that both players will take as long as they can to make a decision, too. Swanigan has a workout scheduled next week with the Pacers, while Edwards has a workout with the Jazz this coming weekend. I don't expect to hear anything from either player until next week.

In truth, anything not from the players themselves is mere speculation. I would expect the first and most reliable source to be their respective twitter accounts. Both are relatively active, and it is the quickest way to announce for sure. Last year Swanigan played it low key with a simple "Boiler Up" tweet.

For what it is worth, here is what CBS Sports had to say about Swanigan:

Swanigan had a solid freshman season at Purdue, but his fit in the NBA has always been relatively precarious due to the nature of his game as a 6-8 rebounding center who isn't quite athletic enough to move down to the 4. Swanigan measured well in terms of wingspan, but didn't quite get the height NBA teams are looking for. Then in the athletic testing portion, he performed as poorly as expected, and the 5-on-5 showed many of the problems associated with that. He couldn't really get much off in terms of shots, and just was relatively inactive in both games. Swanigan would really be benefitted by returning to school to continue to slim down his body (he did great work in this capacity coming into the season) and refining his perimeter game through his jump shooting and passing. Whether or not that happens is up for debate at this point. Swanigan discussed at the combine how "if (the NBA) thinks you're ready, you've got to take your chance." It doesn't seem like he's angling for a first round pick or bust type of scenario here. Rather, it seemed like as long as a team gave him some assurances in terms of a future in their organization, he might take their shot. This one is a bit too difficult to read, even if the big man could really help himself by returning.

I am not Caleb. I can't make the choice for him, but almost everything I have read says that returning to school is the best course of action because he can greatly improve his stock for next season. Draft Express already has him as a first round selection for 2017, and that is before playing a single minute and showing what improvement he has. Getting picked in 2017 is much, much more likely, and I hope that Caleb sees that. What he needs to work on will coincide with what Purdue needs him to do to have more success as a team. That symbiotic relationship could pay off in a big way, but again, that's not my decision.

Coach Painter himself does not think Caleb will announce before the 25th:

"For Caleb, it's hard to really assess because he got hurt in his first workout and cancelled all the workouts leading up to the combine, then he played in the combine. Then his next workout's in a day or two," Painter said. "He's had one workout and he's played two games. It's not really an experience yet. He's waiting to gather all the information from all the people."

Painter said he believes Swanigan has four or five workouts scheduled with NBA teams. He doesn't expect an announcement on the power forward's status until close to the May 25 deadline to withdraw and return to school.

As for Edwards, I would be stunned if he did not return. the same Draft Express link has him as a second round pick after next season, and no one thinks he will be picked this year.