Now that Batum is officially resigned, are there any worries about motivation?

Nic plainly stated he wanted to be in Minny. So now that the Blazers have matched, do you think he'll dog it and be unprofessional on the court, especially that it looks like the team is going to suck for a few years?

 

+1, he's going to love Lillard

 

no worries here. I think he will be excited and motivated.

 

11.5/yr . . . at the very least you hope he is going to be professional.

If the trade kicker is in contract, he needs to come to realization he will likely be Blazer for 4 years.

 

...but he was "told" to say those things and did not actually mean them

 

It's not plain. It's sounding like he was told to say those things in order to get a contract offer from Minny. His agent is a jackass, but it worked.

So, no, now worried at all.

 

When one realizes Rubio has a torn ACL, Roy is washed up and Love wants out I think this has been more about money for Nic than where he plays. All designed by his agent to get as much money for Nic as possible using that boob of a GM in Minny has a schmuck.

 

Funny but I'm actually less worried about his motivation with the money than I would be for most guys.

I think one of Nic's biggest problems in his first 4 years with the team, had more to do with being pigeonholed as a support player --basically being told to stand in the corner and shoot threes -- Under those kind of constraints I don't think we've seen the full game of Nicolas Batum ... maybe we've seen it in fits and starts, but I don't think he felt all that empowered to be a focal point player.

Does that mean he's guaranteed to become a big-time impact player and completely change his approach to the game? I don't know, but I do think the money may help him feel validated and justified in demanding a bigger role.

We'll see what happens.

 

I believe LMA and Wes when they said they were taken by surprise when Nic made the comments about wanting to leave. Did he want to go to Minny, yeah at the time I think he did. Will he be happy in Portland as well? Yeah I think he will. Especially with his money.

But no one will be happy if they are losing. That is what it always comes down to.

 

For health care. Get ready America...

 

Have none of you ever negotiated before? Jeez. How's that turnip truck? How else would he have gotten a big offer sheet if not by extolling the virtues of Minny?

And in any case, at $45 mil, how he "feels" is completely irrelevant.

 

Olshey claimed in his interview today that Batum told him his agent/Minnesota put him up to those comments. He also stated that the contract as discussed in the media is overblown because the league disallowed some of the incentives Minnesota had spelled out.

I came away from that interview feeling like Batum was fully on board and cheaper than we're expecting. But then, that's the GM's job. I guess we'll know for sure when the details of the deal surface and how Batum plays when he comes back this fall. But I'm optimistic.

Here's the presser: http://on.nba.com/NiN18G

 

This isn't meant to disparage Neil Olshey because so far I really like him, but that dude could probably sell ice cream to Eskimos.

 

ya, I know what you mean.

 

Batum has always been a low-motor guy. Now, he has been richly rewarded for drifting on the court and not fighting to reach his potential (as demonstrated by his international play).

Yep...this is going to work out really well!

(I know...I am just a bitter former Batum fan. Just ignore me.)

 

Well, as long as he brings that work ethic for which the French are so famous, we have no worries.