It's obvious the guy's got talent. We can debate until our fingers fall off on whether or not it's his mentality, his role, Nate's offense, age, or whatever that has prevented him from reaching his full potential thus far. What I would like to know from other posters is... What is Nic Batum's max potential in terms of stat-line (feel free to include analysis)? What is a realistic expectation of Nic Batum's peak production (not necessarily max potential)? How long are you willing to wait and see if he can reach either of these, and what conditions would you need to see to not want to continue to wait (trade offer, coaching changes, minutes, etc.)? I'm just curious because I know people have a lot of different expectations, many of which seem to be kinda lofty.
35mpg, 20pts, 45% FG, 40%3pt, 85% FT, 6rebs, 3ast, 1.5stl, 1.5blks Second or third best player on a contending team. 2yrs of being given full freedom and confidence by the coach. And none of this rigid rotation garbage.
It partly depends on whether he plays SG or SF as to stats. But overall I see him as an excellent complimentary player with no real weakness. I mean, sure he could always add 20 lbs of muscle, but he rebounds well enough. Someone who can drive, slash or spot up. He has length on defense and is fairly quick. I think Nate hasn't done him any favors as most of his bench players get inconsistent minutes early in their careers, taken out when they're hot and seem to not really understand their roll. Is he an all-star to be? I doubt it. But he's going to be very close to it if given a chance. He'll do whatever needed to win without complaint. I like that as well. I think he'll flourish under a new coach if given a starting role.
btw, Nic's #s from FEB in 12 games: 33mins, 17.8pts, 49% FG, 43%3pt, 83%FT, 4.8rebs, 1.7asts, 1.6stl, 1.5blks,
Keep it short and sweet He's a third option at best on a contending team. Nice player, but not that special. Not a true difference maker.
Batum has talent to burn. If he had Westbrook's self-confidence he would be an all-star already. He's just too... diffident. Reminds me of Derrick McKey: super-talented, and always defended well, but never took off like expected. Batum needs "royal jelly". He showed in France that if he's told he's The Man he can just take over. Yes, the talent level was a lot lower, but he also did it against Euroleague teams and was hitting clutch shots and filling up the boxscore.
2nd best on a contender, 3rd best on a champion. But only if he avoids more weight and muscle, which would ruin his lively style.
Nic's PER now: 20.05, 3rd best of any SF in the league behind LBJ and Durant. As a starter through 10 games: 36mins, 49% FG, 40% 3pt, 19.7pts, 5.8rebs, 1.8ast, 1.3stl, 1.4blks. I think this is his breakout season.
Brother, statements like ^ this prove your lack of knowledge of the game. Nic's PER now: 20.05, 3rd best of any SF in the league behind LBJ and Durant. As a starter through 10 games: 36mins, 49% FG, 40% 3pt, 19.7pts, 5.8rebs, 1.8ast, 1.3stl, 1.4blks.
Max potential? 20 PPG (.580 TS%)/4 APG/7 RPG/2 SPG/1.5 BPG Second option on a good team or third option on a great team combined with being one of the best perimeter defenders in the game. Overall, a top-20 player. I'm willing to pay him $10 million per year on a four year deal based on what he's doing now and would be content to wait til the end of that contract before deciding for good "what he is." He's always on the table in terms of trade. I don't think any player should be "untouchable." I think he should be playing at least 35 MPG right now.
Who cares about his stats, minutes, etc if we're not winning? Since he became a starter, we've been awful. Not saying it's his fault but something's not working. I'm not someone who will derive any pleasure from Batum blossoming into a great stat line if we are losing.
He's playing himself into a big payday. I wonder if there's anyway we could sign him to a heavily backloaded contract annualized at around 12 million per year. Would preserve cap for this year and would make him more likely to sign.
Wow, you really are blind and stubborn when it comes to Batum. I have no idea why, but the facts are: At 23 years old, Batum is among the league leaders in: 3FG Made at 63; TS% (.599); eFG% (.551); ORtg (116.1) WS/48 (.190). For the month of February (12 games), he averaged 17.8 PTS/G, 4.8 REB/G, 1.7 AST/G, 1.6 STL/G, 1.6 BLK/G, .485 FG% and .429 3FG% in 32.9 MPG. For the month of March (2 games), he is averaging 23.0 PTS/G, 4.0 REB/G, 1.0 AST/G, 2.5 STL/G, 1.0 BLK/G, .536 FG% and .400 3FG% in 35.9 MPG. As a starter (10 games), he is averaging 19.7 PPG, 5.8 RPG and 1.8 APG. When he plays 40+ MPG (5 games), he averages 23.4 PPG, 6.2 RPG and 1.6 APG. His advanced stats rank him at the 3rd best small forward, or 4th best shooting guard or 6th best wing (2/3) in the entire league after Lebron, Wade, Durant, Kobe and James Harden. Name one other SF or SG who is clearly better than Nicolas Batum and then provide something other than your short and sweet biased opinion to support your argument. BNM
I've actually been wondering if frontloading a contract, depending on how the market shakes out this year, would actually be better for us. Provided no other great deals for players come through, front loading his deal gives us better future flexibility, especially as the luxury tax gets stricter. On a 4 year, 48 million dollar contract, let's say, front loading the deal is the difference in year 4 of paying him, roughly, 9.5 versus 13.5. If we have the space, and don't necessarily need it this offseason, I think that'd be preferable.
You seem to be confusing cause and effect. The Blazers were already sucking before Nic became a starter. We really don't have a starting PG on this team. Felton has sucked so bad, we've had to force a back-up shooting guard into service as our starting PG - and it shows. The team has given up on the coach. They aren't rebounding and they aren't playing defense. That's why they're losing, not because Nicolas Batum is starting in place of Wesley Matthews. Besides, when the team is playing this badly, you need to look for SOMETHING positive moving forward. Nic's play has been one of the few (only?) positives about this team over the past month. BNM
I can see some teams making a big offer for Nic early on in FA and make us commit to him first before we can even go after someone else like Deron. Good thing is that the NBA changed that matching period to only 3 days from a week. But we have to take care of the Nic situation before thinking of anyone else. Losing him is not an option.
I'm sure our GM is well aware of the situation, already has a plan in place and will be all over that. Oh wait... BNM
