120 Guarantees: the Nic Batum thread

[MPM]

Batum is arguably the best playmaking SF not named Lebron.

There are a lot of things I'd call Nic Batum. "Playmaker" is not one of those things, not by a mile.

Haven't watched Nic play that much, but FWIW he averaged nearly 5 assists per game last year, second to Lebron among SFs:

http://espn.go.com/nba/statistics/player/_/stat/assists/sort/avgAssists/seasontype/2/position/small-forwards

[Flip Murray]

He's a SF, not a SG. This is not good for Kemba. We need a legit SG that can shoot and create his own shot. Not another hot potato.

Wing positions are interchangeable in todays NBA. There is no designated position. You know this, come on now.

Jalen rose says some dumb stuff but one of the most insightful things he says is "positions were created so a novice can understand the game". I think that's more true today than ever. No need to get caught up on the sg/sf thing we just got ourselves a decent versatile player

[InProblematique]

why are we so hung up on who is going to be the 2 guard?

Do you think MKG couldn't guard the 2?

I 100% agree. Saying who starts at the 2/3 is merely a formality with two players like that. Batum and MKG will be able to switch up who guards whom not just on a nightly basis, but on a play-by-play basis. They'll be a very versatile wing tandem, and just because one is listed at SG doesn't mean they're playing SG the entire time.

[BeesWax]

Batum is a good player who will do fine here. I do not doubt that he will be an OK player but we lost the trade because we gave up to much. Batum can play the style we need from a wing well enough to be helpful.

[thesneakysneak]

his last years stats are god awful. Lance-esque. But if he does bounce back, then we have that second playmaker we lost in mcRob and who we wanted lance or Hayward to be.

[Diop]

Batum is a good player who will do fine here. I do not doubt that he will be an OK player but we lost the trade because we gave up to much. Batum can play the style we need from a wing well enough to be helpful.

That all depends on vonleh. If he really doesn't have a brain and that's why we traded him while he still has value, then it's fine.

[BeesWax]

Batum is a good player who will do fine here. I do not doubt that he will be an OK player but we lost the trade because we gave up to much. Batum can play the style we need from a wing well enough to be helpful.

That all depends on vonleh. If he really doesn't have a brain and that's why we traded him while he still has value, then it's fine.

Sort of. It will also depend on how much it costs to retain Batum. If we lose him or overpay him it makes a bad trade even worse. Our whole team looked lost last year due to poor coaching so I do not put a rookie looking confused as much of a surprise. Cliff baffled lots of guys with stupid moves last season and it showed on the court.

[InProblematique]

his last years stats are god awful. Lance-esque. But if he does bounce back, then we have that second playmaker we lost in mcRob and who we wanted lance or Hayward to be.

They are certainly not Lance-esque. ~33% three-point shooting isn't great, but I'll take it compared to Lance's 17%.

Besides, as it's been pointed out, people should be looking at his splits after the ASG when he finally managed to get healthy. By the time February rolled around, he was playing much better ball.

[thesneakysneak]

his last years stats are god awful. Lance-esque. But if he does bounce back, then we have that second playmaker we lost in mcRob and who we wanted lance or Hayward to be.

They are certainly not Lance-esque. ~33% three-point shooting isn't great, but I'll take it compared to Lance's 17%.

Besides, as it's been pointed out, people should be looking at his splits after the ASG when he finally managed to get healthy. By the time February rolled around, he was playing much better ball.

noted. what are his post ASG stats vs prior? (im on crummy offshore internet)
From what portland fans say, he is always dragging along an injury or two or has boom and bust streaks.

[No-Man]

I loved Batum skills as a prospect and thought he would end up been an All Star SG, I think with a bigger load and if he is healthy he can develop into a perimeter star, he has always been more of a glue guy, but I think he was making the jump when Portland got Lillard and then had to take a step back, hopefully he rises again in Charlotte.
He can play the 2, no problem, his ball skills are phenomenal and he is a good shooter.

[InProblematique]

his last years stats are god awful. Lance-esque. But if he does bounce back, then we have that second playmaker we lost in mcRob and who we wanted lance or Hayward to be.

They are certainly not Lance-esque. ~33% three-point shooting isn't great, but I'll take it compared to Lance's 17%.

Besides, as it's been pointed out, people should be looking at his splits after the ASG when he finally managed to get healthy. By the time February rolled around, he was playing much better ball.

noted. what are his post ASG stats vs prior? (im on crummy offshore internet)
From what portland fans say, he is always dragging along an injury or two or has boom and bust streaks.

Very rushed/rough math from Feb-end of regular season is 41.4/39.6/90.3

Those numbers aren't exact, because like I said, very half-assed math as I'm at work and trying to not get fired, but yeah. He was shooting much better over the last half.

Quick edit - He was only shooting in the 20s from three through November and December, which is when his wrist was beaten up.

[InProblematique]

I loved Batum skills as a prospect and thought he would end up been an All Star SG, I think with a bigger load and if he is healthy he can develop into a perimeter star, he has always been more of a glue guy, but I think he was making the jump when Portland got Lillard and then had to take a step back, hopefully he rises again in Charlotte.
He can play the 2, no problem, his ball skills are phenomenal and he is a good shooter.

I agree with you. You had Lillard as the primary ball-handler, Wes as the primary shooter, and Aldridge as the big post/rebound guy. Batum was a do-it-all for the team player. That worked well in PDX obviously, but I think with our needs to shoot and space, Batum will play a much more pivotal, specified role in Charlotte. He'll be much more of a go-to scorer than he has been in Portland for the past couple of years.

[No-Man]

I think he can have a similar impact to Haywards with better D

[MasterIchiro]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/DenverNews360/status/614095750264295424[/tweet]

[mrknowitall215]

Going to be some disappointed people if they're expecting anything near needle moving impact from Batum in the lineup. I'm expecting about a similar impact as Henderson but with better spacing since Batum despite being gun shy make himself a perimeter threat. However, he'll be a disappearing act with extremely inconsistent play. I think the mystique of the player Batum had the potential to be make him a bigger attraction among NBA fans/GMs. Batum essentially was the Antetpkounmpo of last decade...now imagine Antetokounmpo peaking in another year as just a decent role player...that's Batum

[Elden Payton]

I'm pissed about this trade but Batum at least, is more than a decent roleplayer.

[catch20two]

I can see Batum pulling a Lance here. Lol

[KembaWalker]

I can see Batum pulling a Lance here. Lol

He actually seems like a great guy after watching his videos on hornets.com

He almost cancels out the Frank pain for me

[catch20two]

I can see Batum pulling a Lance here. Lol

He actually seems like a great guy after watching his videos on hornets.com

He almost cancels out the Frank pain for me

Not character wise but stats wise. I didn't even think Lance was that bad other then his flailing of the arms stuff whenever somebody didn't finish off one of his assist. I was talking about Batum possibly having career low numbers but it would be hard for Batum to worst last year based on his career averages. I can see it tho. This is gonna be the most he's had to play SG in the NBA in his career and I wonder how he's going to adapt in Charlotte under Cliff's blah offensive schemes after spending all of those years in Portland with a high flying offense.

Batum is a nice guy. Most french people are nice by nature. Especially the women.

[KembaWalker]

I can see Batum pulling a Lance here. Lol

He actually seems like a great guy after watching his videos on hornets.com

He almost cancels out the Frank pain for me

Not character wise but stats wise. I didn't even think Lance was that bad other then his flailing of the arms stuff whenever somebody didn't finish off one of his assist. I was talking about Batum possibly having career low numbers but it would be hard for Batum to worst last year based on his career averages. I can see it tho. This is gonna be the most he's had to play SG in the NBA in his career and I wonder how he's going to adapt in Charlotte under Cliff's blah offensive schemes after spending all of those years in Portland with a high flying offense.

Batum is a nice guy. Most french people are nice by nature. Especially the women.

what was funny to me is that he specifically predicted his box score stats saying he expected to replicate his 2 ssn ago 15/5/5 stat line
which would be nice

though if you asked Lance before he probably would have said he was gonna average 20/8/8

Batum doesn't know what he's in for under Alfense