RI’s Swider’s Persistence Has Him on the Precipice of Being a Laker: Kevin Stacom
Kevin Stacom, Sports Analyst
RI’s Swider’s Persistence Has Him on the Precipice of Being a Laker: Kevin Stacom
Every year at the NBA’s showcase summer league in Las Vegas, there are always a few surprise candidates that emerge seemingly out of nowhere to distinguish themselves to the point of demanding serious consideration to deserve a permanent spot on an NBA roster. You can see his last summer league game: Lakers vs Celtics, Thursday, July 17, 9 PM, ESPN.
Cole Swider, Portsmouth native and Saint Andrew’s of Barrington graduate, is such a player. His performance after six games has been remarkably consistent. Right from the jump in his first game vs Golden State on July 5, Swider's stats:
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST29 minutes; 7/10 FG’s; 6/8 3’s; 8 rebounds; 24 points
He followed that up with five more games with point totals of 20, 15, 22, 21, and 16, averaging 19.7 points over that span, as a model of efficiency including 47% from 3 (24/51), 52% FG’s (39/75), including 6.7 rounds per game in just under 30 minutes of playing time per game.
Having forced his way back into our consciousness again, I thought it only natural to catch up on what Cole has been doing in basketball since he graduated from Syracuse as a senior, after spending his first three college years at Villanova.
After going undrafted out of Syracuse in 2022, Swider played well enough in summer league and training camp to earn what is called a 2-way NBA contract with the LA Lakers which means he would split a certain amount of time between the parent club and the G-league team. As his father Jeff explained to me, things were going very well until he sustained a groin injury which put him out of action enough to enable a player with a similar skill set to take Cole’s place. That year, he only logged a total of 7 games with the LA Lakers.
For the 2023-2024 season, Swider was picked up by the Miami Heat on another 2-way contract, appearing in only 18 games on the NBA level with very limited playing time.
From there, in last year’s 2024-2025 season, he managed to stay alive in the NBA merry-go-round by splitting his time on an additional 2-ways with the Detroit Pistons (2 games) and the Toronto Raptors (8 games).
His eight games with Toronto were his most productive up till that point, as he was able to secure the most meaningful minutes (19.5/game), averaging a respectable 7.4 points in that span.
Having been around the league a long time as a player and a scout, there have been a good number of guys that have come up the hard way, i.e. being undrafted and spending a lot of time in the minor leagues (G-league), and they all seem to share a couple of very strong personality and character traits.
After witnessing how Swider was able to persist to this point, of being able to hopefully finally capitalize on such a successful summer league campaign, I thought I’d reach out to his former High School/Prep School coach, Mike Hart, to see if that model held up in terms of the type of person his former player was during his time at St. Andrew's.
Having just missed being named to the McDonald's All-American team, he performed well enough in the Jordan Classic HS All-Star game to qualify for the prestigious Nike Hoop Summit game, which pits some of the best U.S. high schoolers against their international peers from around the world.
Coming from that level of early accomplishment and recognition to his first few years at Villanova set the stage for a set of circumstances to test his level of maturity and commitment to the game. To arrive at a program like Villanova with a renowned coach (Jay Wright), coming off two recent NCAA National Titles, and the high expectations that entails, is a lot to deal with when, instead of initially receiving the expected positive reinforcement you’re accustomed to, you get 9.6 minutes/game and average 3.5 points/game.
Cole’s next two years at Villanova were better but he still was unable to grind out more than 18.5 minutes/game and 18.9 minutes/game, scoring a modest 6.1 points/game and 5.7 points/game during his sophomore and junior years respectively. It wasn’t until he finally transferred to Syracuse for his senior season that he was finally allowed to flourish under a different system with Coach Boeheim, getting the necessary minutes (34.5/game) and starting all 33 games. He’s a shooter and shooters cannot be on a short leash looking over their shoulder every time they miss a shot wondering if they’re about to get yanked out of a game. They need the luxury of time to find their rhythm and just let it fly.
Swider’s senior year at Syracuse:
34.5 minutes/game; 44% FG’s; 41% 3’s; 87% FT’s; 6.8 rebounds/game; 13.9 points
Having successfully completed the 1st part of the mental test with flying colors and with his instincts and confidence somewhat restored, the stage was set for him to embark on his pro career.
Again, as previously mentioned, it hasn’t been an easy, smooth pathway. In the last three years, Swider has been with LA Lakers, the Miami Heat, training camp with the Indiana Pacers at the beginning of last season only to be the last cut before regular season begins, back to theLakers G-league, picked up by Detroit and then cut again after two games, finishing with the Toronto Raptors for eight games and now back to the Lakers for a stint with their summer league team.
There is a high level of mental toughness and character to persevere through such a process. Cole’s father, Jeff, relayed to me how Cole has been able to extract whatever positives he could along the way. How, for instance during his time in Miami, Duncan Robinson, a player with a game that very much mirrors his, took the time to encourage Cole to keep at it and give some pointers on what to work on, how Coach Spoelstra would take the time to look at film from his G-league games and offer some advice - again recalling coach Hearts telling of how well Cole’s willingness to listen and absorb will play in his favor - so instead of dwelling on all the negatives of bouncing around and the rejection, he’s been able to selectively acquire whatever positives were available and to keep working towards his goal of a full time NBA roster spot and full NBA contract.
There are a couple of factors that may indicate that stars could finally be aligning in Cole Swider’s favor. I was with Dallas when we drafted Luka Doncic and obviously with a unique generational talent like him, it’s important to find the right kind of players to fill in the roster to compliment his immense offensive talents. He’s one of the most dynamic offensive shot creators in the league and as such is the subject of a lot of opponents defensive schemes. They will, by necessity, involve a lot of traps, double teams, hedging, and retreating, etc, and therefore it’s paramount that he has teammates who can make those defenses pay for so much concentration on him.
That type of player, in my opinion, aligns with Cole Swider’s skill set. His high basketball IQ allows him to move well without the ball to take advantage of Doncic’s great vision and passing ability, and he is capable of being one of the highest percentage 3-point shooters in the league if given the chance, thereby providing a great, reliable outlet for the pressure put on Doncic.
Another serendipitous factor in play might be another tidbit that Jeff Swider informed me about his son - that as an aspiring young player and shooter from a young age, JJ Redick was one of his main role models and heroes, and now hopefully will be on a team and be able play for a coach who understands a shooter’s mentality.
After researching Cole Swider’s background, and having a chance to see how he’s been able to handle all the uncertainty and adversity thrown his way up till this point, it’s only natural to pull for such a young player.
The fact that he’s a local Rhode Islander, of course, adds to the intensity of wishing him nothing but the best, or as his old High School coach, Mike Hart, says, “If anyone deserves it, he does!”