More ($): Purdue Basketball — Now what?

Purdue will have some moving parts this off-season as players consider their NBA options, but even if Player-of-the-Year candidate Caleb Swanigan turns pro, the Boilermakers should again have the makings of a very good team in 2017-18.

Assuming that seniors-to-be Vincent Edwards and Isaac Haas return — there's no reason they shouldn't go through the draft-exploration process — then they'll have one more season to play alongside classmates Dakota Mathias and P.J. Thompson, giving Purdue its best, deepest, most experienced and most accomplished senior class in years.

Make no mistake here: Swanigan's anticipated departure would be one that would bring about profound change to the product you saw on the floor this season. Beyond his productivity as a scorer and rebounder, it was factors such as his passing out of and into the post, his ability to stretch defenses and the sheer volume of fouls he contributed to drawing that really made Purdue go, on top of the fact that he played harder than most everyone else on the floor.

The Big Ten Player-of-the-Year's value to this past Purdue team simply could not be overstated.

That being said, barring anything unforeseen, the Boilermakers should have most of their other key pieces back.