LA Clippers forward Nicolas Batum is declining his $4.9 million player option for the 2025-26 season. Batum will now be an unrestricted free agent on July 1.
Batum and the Clippers have interest in signing a new contract. LA can give Batum a modest bump in salary to $5.6 million using his non-Bird rights. The Clippers could also use a portion of their Non-Taxpayer Mid-Level Exception to give Batum a larger first-year salary.
The 17-year veteran appeared in 78 games for LA last season. Batum averaged 4.0 points and 2.8 rebounds in 17.5 minutes per game in the regular season. In the playoffs, Batum averaged 5.6 points and 3.9 rebounds in 24.6 minutes per game. He also shot 39.4% on three-pointers during the Clippers first round loss to the Denver Nuggets.
