Batum should be Cho's top offseason priority

Leolovinliberal · Post #1 » by **Leolovinliberal** » Sat Mar 3, 2012 7:32 pm

I posted this in the Rondo thread, but I felt it deserved it's own topic. Batum is crazy athletic, very good shooter, very good slasher, very good defender, very good rebounder, is only 23 and is not a head case at all. With Cho's ties to Portland and our dire need of a stud sf, this seems like a no brainer to me. If we could package Kemba Chucker with Portlands pick and some more players to get Rondo we could be young and good rather quickly.

Rondo
Hendo
Batum
Anthony Davis
Biz

Me likey this team a lot. Lob City East with Rondo to Batum, Biz and AD.

Bassman · Post #2 » by **Bassman** » Sat Mar 3, 2012 8:41 pm

I like Batum, and IF we were to go hard after a free agent, he may come at a price we could manage. Portland will be going hard to keep him. As much as I'd like to get Rondo for your lineup suggestion, I don't see it happening. We're gonna be har pressed to get any player here as a FA if we don't have something to build around. Rondo could be that guy, so I completely agree we should try to get into that discussion.

Leolovinliberal · Post #3 » by **Leolovinliberal** » Sat Mar 3, 2012 8:55 pm

Bassman wrote:I like Batum, and IF we were to go hard after a free agent, he may come at a price we could manage. Portland will be going hard to keep him. As much as I'd like to get Rondo for your lineup suggestion, I don't see it happening. We're gonna be har pressed to get any player here as a FA if we don't have something to build around. Rondo could be that guy, so I completely agree we should try to get into that discussion.

Portland has Wallace at the sf and Batum isn't gonna sign long term to be a back up.

SparksFly87 · Post #4 » by **SparksFly87** » Sat Mar 3, 2012 9:24 pm

You should push for Micheal Beasley he's young and talented offensive threat.

Leolovinliberal · Post #5 » by **Leolovinliberal** » Sat Mar 3, 2012 9:28 pm

SparksFly87 wrote:You should push for Micheal Beasley he's young and talented offensive threat.

I
He's also insane. I think Batum is a much more all around better player, plus he's a FA, unlike Beas.

Eoghan · Post #6 » by **Eoghan** » Sat Mar 3, 2012 9:29 pm

Leolovinliberal wrote:
Bassman wrote:I like Batum, and IF we were to go hard after a free agent, he may come at a price we could manage. Portland will be going hard to keep him. As much as I'd like to get Rondo for your lineup suggestion, I don't see it happening. We're gonna be har pressed to get any player here as a FA if we don't have something to build around. Rondo could be that guy, so I completely agree we should try to get into that discussion.

Portland has Wallace at the sf and Batum isn't gonna sign long term to be a back up.

I love Batum also but I think Bassman is right. I can't see any way Portland lets Batum walk in favor of a declining Gerald Wallace. If the Blazers don't make a meaningful trade soon for a quick fix, they'd be better off going into a mini rebuild mode as well.

bobcats3wallace · Post #7 » by **bobcats3wallace** » Sat Mar 3, 2012 9:50 pm

I agree. Batum should be a top off season priority, however not through a trade. Batum should be a guy we target to use some of our cap room on. Of course, this assuming we are out of any potential star signing (which I think it's safe to say we are). Here is an interesting potential link for us and Batum:

Rick Bonnell ‏ @rick_bonnell
There's chatter Nate McMillan might not be back in Portland next season. That gets interesting for #Bobcats if they don't retain Paul Silas

If McMillan is let go, I do think he would be a target here in Charlotte. He plays a similar up-tempo style, or at least is trying to this year. He has obviously had success and would be a legit candidate for the job. Assuming McMillan is here, then we would not only have the connection of Cho to Portland (in which I'm sure he is interested based on the fact he refused to trade Batum when he was with Portland). Question is, will having McMillan help us any in interesting Batum?

Bottom line is this: Portland has Wallace starting, but only for one more year. I'm not sure if having Wallace there for one year would prevent them from matching a big money offer for Batum. If it does though, that's obviously another advantage for us. If we could throw big money at him, say 8-10 million per, would that be something Portland would match? Would that be too high for us to pay? Would it be worth it?

I think personally he is worth 8-10 per but I'm not convinced Portland wouldn't match that. If they didn't, though, you would have to like a core of Kemba, Hendo, Batum, Davis, and Biz going forward. One concern with that would be scoring and passing, but that's a good core to start with and we would still have cap space going forward.

Post #8 » by **BigSlam** » Sat Mar 3, 2012 11:16 pm

I wouldn't want to spend 10 mil a year on Batum.

I don't mind him, but I don't think he is the dynamic scoring SF that we crave.

Post #9 » by **fatlever** » Sun Mar 4, 2012 12:02 am

did he just turn down a 40 mil extension from the blazers?

its not time to add complimentary pieces like batum via free agency. that is another short cut to nowhere. until we get a superstar either through the draft or free agency we need to keep our salary commitments to a minimum.

we need to be patient and build this correctly this time around. last time we got impatient when we gave up our 10 mil in cap space for jason richardson. that was the start of when our smart build went to crap last time.

batum is a guy you add around a superstar.

dont put the cart before the horse.... or whatever cliche you want to use.

captaincrunk · Post #10 » by **captaincrunk** » Sun Mar 4, 2012 12:27 am

fatlever wrote:did he just turn down a 40 mil extension from the blazers?

its not time to add complimentary pieces like batum via free agency. that is another short cut to nowhere. until we get a superstar either through the draft or free agency we need to keep our salary commitments to a minimum.

we need to be patient and build this correctly this time around. last time we got impatient when we gave up our 10 mil in cap space for jason richardson. that was the start of when our smart build went to crap last time.

batum is a guy you add around a superstar.

dont put the cart before the horse.... or whatever cliche you want to use.

I suggested a DJ/batum swap. I don't think it would add wins for us if we lost DJ.

Jaruff · Post #11 » by **Jaruff** » Sun Mar 4, 2012 2:54 am

Batum has been playing a lot of SG this year and if we signed him, that is the position I would want him to play.

Kemba - Batum

That's the kind of size we need for Kemba in the back-court.

Hendo as a Raja Bell sixth man is pretty ideal for him. We can take Barnes or Davis or someone in the draft and boom, we have a decent roster going forward.

Kemba - Batum - Barnes - ??? - Biz
Kemba - Batum - ??? - Davis - Biz

Rich4114 · Post #12 » by **Rich4114** » Sun Mar 4, 2012 2:47 pm

Agreed with Fats, we have to wait until we've got the star or two before we add role players around them. Batum is like a 3rd tier type guy. 3rd or 4th best option on a good team.

bobcats3wallace · Post #13 » by **bobcats3wallace** » Sun Mar 4, 2012 3:34 pm

Rich4114 wrote:Agreed with Fats, we have to wait until we've got the star or two before we add role players around them. Batum is like a 3rd tier type guy. 3rd or 4th best option on a good team.

I get what your saying, but I'm not sure we can say that just yet. The guy is just 23 and really has yet to get the chance to start. Even despite not starting he is still scoring well and rebounding the ball. While he surely isn't a star, I think he could be a very solid piece. Perhaps could still develop into something close to a star with the way he plays. If you give him 8-10 you still have the potential to have cap space to add a star. IMO I just think we need to add young talent to be able to attract a star. I know the ideal situation is finding a star in the draft, but if you have a chance to sign a guy like Batum through free agency I think it's something you have to look at. His versatility to play SG, SF and some PF is a huge plus as well. This is different from the J-rich trade because this guy is young with still a lot of undiscovered potential. Maybe I wouldn't give him 10 million, but I would be fine with at least offering him 8 and seeing what happens.

thruthefire · Post #14 » by **thruthefire** » Sun Mar 4, 2012 6:06 pm

Batum is averaging 20 points (on 49 percent shooting) and six rebounds as a starter. He'll probably never be a franchise player, but absolutely worth $10+ million.

Post #15 » by **fatlever** » Sun Mar 4, 2012 6:34 pm

i dont argue that batum is worth something similar to what gerald wallace makes. that doesnt exactly mean its a smart signing for us this summer.

Tupik · Post #16 » by **Tupik** » Sun Mar 4, 2012 7:25 pm

I'm extremely biased here, being French and all, but I would absolutely love to have Batum here. This guy is a stud, and he clearly showed that he could become the leader of the offense with the French national team. He's had some problem with being too passive in the past, but he's become much better at that. And this guy is the anti-team cancer, he's all about winning and helping the team (although that might actually not make him want to come here

).

I would absolutely throw 8-10mil at Batum, I clearly have a mancrush on this guy.

HornetJail · Post #17 » by **HornetJail** » Sun Mar 4, 2012 10:14 pm

I wanted Batum when Wallace was traded.

captaincrunk · Post #18 » by **captaincrunk** » Sun Mar 4, 2012 10:18 pm

CHA_77_Bobcats wrote:I wanted Batum when Wallace was traded.

I did too. I would have sacrificed one of the two picks we got for it.

thruthefire · Post #19 » by **thruthefire** » Sun Mar 4, 2012 11:12 pm

So did MJ. If we have a chance to solidify our frontcourt with Batum, Davis and Biyombo, I feel we should go for it.

captaincrunk · Post #20 » by **captaincrunk** » Sun Mar 4, 2012 11:18 pm

thruthefire wrote:So did MJ. If we have a chance to solidify our frontcourt with Batum, Davis and Biyombo, I feel we should go for it.

I think so too. To everyone saying we need a superstar small forward, how are we going to keep Davis, Biyombo, and (SF here)? You need some Ibakas and Perkins and Artests on your team too.