120 Guarantees: the Nic Batum thread

[yosemiteben]

I personally think that is a stupid theory (that Lamb's play had anything to do with it).

Much more likely that he knew the team was all in on this season and he wanted to be a part of it.

[catch20two]

I personally think that is a stupid theory (that Lamb's play had anything to do with it).

Much more likely that he knew the team was all in on this season and he wanted to be a part of it.

No offense taken but that’s what my gut feeling tells me. My stupid theories often get dismissed until light shines on it later. I mean it’s not exactly out of the realm of possibility at all.

Have you ever played sports? If you have then you’d probably seen the player play injured or rush back from injury to avoid losing starting spot story play out often. I’ll just assume that you’ve never played organized team sports as a teenager or adult.

[yosemiteben]

What in the history of Lamb and Batum's time here in CHA suggests that Batum has reason to be worried about Lamb's performance?

Like are you seriously saying Batum was worried that Cliff would diminish Batum's role in favor of Lamb?

It seems like an absurd idea to me.

You are also acting like Batum and Lamb can't play together, which I doubt is an assumption that Batum shares.

[Kembastockton]

What in the history of Lamb and Batum's time here in CHA suggests that Batum has reason to be worried about Lamb's performance?

Like are you seriously saying Batum was worried that Cliff would diminish Batum's role in favor of Lamb?

It seems like an absurd idea to me.

You are also acting like Batum and Lamb can't play together, which I doubt is an assumption that Batum shares.

Nothing in history. The fact that we drafted two players who can get minutes at the two suggests that Batum may no longer be needed if Lamb can thrive in starters minutes.

[yosemiteben]

Don't think drafting Monk and Bacon indicates a shift away from Batum, who we gave a max contract to the summer before.

Also seems pretty clear that neither Monk nor Bacon is anywhere close to pushing anyone out of our rotation.

[catch20two]

What in the history of Lamb and Batum's time here in CHA suggests that Batum has reason to be worried about Lamb's performance?

Like are you seriously saying Batum was worried that Cliff would diminish Batum's role in favor of Lamb?

It seems like an absurd idea to me.

You are also acting like Batum and Lamb can't play together, which I doubt is an assumption that Batum shares.

I don’t know about history because this team got a poor history of doing the right thing lol.

But common sense would’ve been to continue riding Lamb’s play as they suggested and slowly bring Batum along since he returned prematurely and still had elbow soreness. Duh!

The only absurdity is the stuff you be saying lol.

[316Hornets]

Batum is so untradeable at this point that it feels like beating a dead horse to criticize his play. Either he turns it around or we are just bottom dwellers for the next 2-3 years. We've invested too much money to throw him in the trash this early in his contract and no team is going to take a chance when he's playing so poorly. I'd like to see him get more spot minutes with the bench, but I have no idea how Batum would handle that. The last thing we'd want is for Batum to demand a trade or something like that and pretty much handcuff us into throwing away our future picks.

[Vanderbilt_Grad]

I think that Nic rushed himself back, rather than the other way around.

And this.

Batum heard them Lamb footsteps on his heels. The team was playing well and Lamb was performing at a higher level as a starter than Batum had in the previous years, even his career season.

Nah. I don't buy that. Cliff is super loyal to his vets. Plus everyone in the league knows that the guys who get paid are the ones that start 99.999999% of the time.

[catch20two]

I think that Nic rushed himself back, rather than the other way around.

And this.

Batum heard them Lamb footsteps on his heels. The team was playing well and Lamb was performing at a higher level as a starter than Batum had in the previous years, even his career season.

Nah. I don't buy that. Cliff is super loyal to his vets. Plus everyone in the league knows that the guys who get paid are the ones that start 99.999999% of the time.

Oh no I don’t buy that Clifford would’ve done it the same way Jerry Jones didn’t want to start Dak over Romo but what happens after a while is you get backed into a corner. If Romo could’ve returned from his injury within 3 weeks to avoid the people talking about Dak should continue starting then it would’ve never happened. Of course this is a different dynamic but it’s comparative in that sake.

[catch20two]

The fact that Lamb played so well in Batum’s absence is the only reason so many people even got the gall to mention that Lamb should be starting. If it wasn’t for that elbow injury in preseason there wouldn’t be a single peep or a solid foundation of people daring to say that Lamb should start over Batum.

Now we got a list of journalist and fans saying that Lamb should start over Batum because they’ve seen what Lamb could be in that role versus what we’ve become accustomed of seeing from Batum in that role.

[DY_nasty]

The fact that Lamb played so well in Batum’s absence is the only reason so many people even got the gall to mention that Lamb should be starting. If it wasn’t for that elbow injury in preseason there wouldn’t be a single peep or a solid foundation of people daring to say that Lamb should start over Batum.

Now we got a list of journalist and fans saying that Lamb should start over Batum because they’ve seen what Lamb could be in that role versus what we’ve become accustomed of seeing from Batum in that role.

The illusion that Batum is still some passing some savant is a joke too

[HoopsMalone]

I wonder if Denver would give us Wilson Chandler, Ken Faried, and Darell arthur for Batum and MCW (expiring).

All three of those guys are worthless but they'd all be entering their final year of their contract next year. They'd have some value as expiring contracts in a trade OR we could just let them expire and clear a ton of cap space along with Dwight's expiring deal.

Either way, we need out of the length of Batum's deal somehow. I don't think this situation is going to age gracefully. We have to wait until he plays a little better though so he doesn't appear to be complete deadweight.

[Braggins]

The fact that Lamb played so well in Batum’s absence is the only reason so many people even got the gall to mention that Lamb should be starting. If it wasn’t for that elbow injury in preseason there wouldn’t be a single peep or a solid foundation of people daring to say that Lamb should start over Batum.

Now we got a list of journalist and fans saying that Lamb should start over Batum because they’ve seen what Lamb could be in that role versus what we’ve become accustomed of seeing from Batum in that role.

The illusion that Batum is still some passing some savant is a joke too

You can make a passing lowlight reel from almost every game he plays. I think a lot of us are so used to it that it barely gets mentioned anymore. He had like 3-4 face palm worthy passing turnovers in the Golden State game and that was actually a decent game for him by his recent standards.

[Robot Rock]

We Think He's Better than MCW: The Nic Batum thread

[catch20two]

Trop Payé et Surfait!!!

[Joest2003]

Regarding Batums struggles it pretty much boils down to one thing. Nic is not a number 2 guy. His strength is playmaking and he would thrive being a third option on offense. We're forcing him to be the second option and be aggressive when that's just not his style. It's not working for us and it's certainly not working for him either.

[catch20two]

Regarding Batums struggles it pretty much boils down to one thing. Nic is not a number 2 guy. His strength is playmaking and he would thrive being a third option on offense. We're forcing him to be the second option and be aggressive when that's just not his style. It's not working for us and it's certainly not working for him either.

I think even considering him a 3rd option is being modest. He’s more like a 4th banana. That’s practically what he was in Portland during their best years. I said it the moment we traded for him. I said it before we re-signed him. I’ll say it now. Batum is just not that kind of player. He’s a glue guy/super role player.

[Eoghan]

Batum is like flavor enhancer, like salt. You wouldn't eat just salt. You don't want something heavily salted either. You want just a pinch of Batum, to enhance the flavor of your team from bland but decent to magnifique.

[Braggins]

It doesn't help that he is actually PF/combo forward playing SG because our coaching staff is so bad that they rarely even know what positions their own players should play (they honestly don't seem to understand how positions work in the modern NBA).

[HoopsMalone]

Very nice game from him tonight but it was against a bunch of 18 year olds