Since signing his contract extension these are his numbers: 14.3 PPG | 5.6 RPG | 4.9 APG | 37 3p% | 15.7 PER | 18.2 USG% 13.0 PPG | 7.5 RPG | 5.1 APG | 36 3P% | 15.8 PER | 16.5 USG% I think he's hitting a bit of a plateau - his playoff numbers are nearly identical as well, only with lower efficiency. Why I think he's near his ceiling is simple: he lacks killer instinct. $11.3m | $11.8m I think it becoming clear that he's not worth this contract and it wouldn't be a bad idea to shop around and see what we can get. We're paying a role player star money. My plan would be to draft a future replacement, Dario Saric would be be choice, with a vet stopgap. Right now we're a fringe playoff team in the stacked West with two legit stars. As San Antonio is showing the world, you need more than two guys that can create their own shot.
I think he's going to continue to improve and I kind of think he might have a break out year next year, similar to the one LA had this year. When he has that, yes I think he will then be worth it.
Lets see if I understand this, Batum sucks and is overpaid. Yet he doesn't suck bad enough and isn't really that overpaid that we should be able to trade him for a draft pick that should get us a player who is maybe just as good or better.
Batum is a solid all-round player, he holds down the fort at the 3 spot, but does he really impact the game much? To me, he just seems like a run-of-the-mill SF. Before he signed his contract, I was thinking he's worth about 7 mil a year and so far he's not lived up to his big contract.
We all knew he was over paid by a few million when we matched. But we had to match and he has played well. I would not move him just because he makes 11 instead of 8. (or what ever you think he is worth) I do agree with your theory that we need one more guy who can create his own shot. Can Saric do that against NBA players? My understanding is his lateral quickness is average at best. He is listed as a PF on the Croatia team. He will be interesting to watch in September. Personally I think it needs to be the SG that we need to add who can create his own shot. Nic does other things I like.
Why do I care how much Batum is paid? He contributes more than his numbers, IMO. The only reason to trade Batum, or any player, is if the trade makes the team better. I don't see that happening. He contributes to the team's success, his contract isn't keeping us from getting better, and it isn't evident that trading him would improve the team. So yeah, he's "worth the money".
Batum doesn't have an elite scorer's mentality and you'll be continually disappointed if you hope for consistent high-level scoring from him. He's a good and versatile defender who has a well-rounded game. He's not an All-Star caliber player, but he's an above average wing in a league that currently doesn't have a ton of above average wings (you have James--if you even count him as any position instead of considering him outside of traditional basketball--Durant, George and Anthony...then you have guys like Josh Smith and Kawhi Leonard and I think Batum compares favorably with Leonard and is more valuable than Smith). He's still only 25 even though he's seemingly been around forever. He probably doesn't have a ton of upside remaining, but I think some improvements are still possible. Worth the money? I think so. I think if he were a free agent after the Finals, he'd make at least that much from someone. What San Antonio is showing is that with the right system, non-stars can have huge impact. Give Leonard his own team and he certainly wouldn't be able to drive his team to success. Patty Mills didn't look like a star outside of San Antonio. Batum on the Spurs would be garnering huge national attention. The Blazers aren't failing to contend for a title due to lack of scoring punch. They were among the best offensive teams. It's their defense that takes them out of the elite, and getting rid of Batum doesn't help the defense at all. The puzzle the Blazers have to solve is how to put a top-ten defense around Aldridge and Lillard. Batum is part of that solution, not a hindrance.
14.5 PER in the playoffs Overpaid? Yeah, probably. It's not horrendous, but it's not all that great of deal, either. When the 3 isn't falling he isn't much to watch on the offensive end. His defense has always been overrated. And let's not even talk about his inconsistency. Batum is just a big meh to me. He's just not a real impact player/difference maker. He just floats around out there.......................
How many players can score, rebound, pass, and defend as well as Nic? Sure, his PER isn't that great, and he should probably average around 16 a game, but his rebounding and passing are excellent for a small forward.
Here's the list of folks who can do what Nic is doing now. Maybe we can get a deal going for one of them? http://bkref.com/tiny/OjJYX
A great coach could make him into a Ginobili, but we won't have a great coach in this century. The real problem is that he gets so many minutes. He's blocking the progress of Allen Crabbe. If Batum played 15 mpg, he'd earn his salary.
He's half of an elite point guard, half of an elite rebounding forward, and half of an elite scoring wing... In one player. There is no player like him; either this performance is coming from an elite wing that can distribute, or an elite rebounder that can distribute. But either of those would be way more expensive. He's not worth the money by wages of wins, but I think he's a good fit. I'm interested to see what he and our similarly aged center do next year as a tandem.
I'm not saying that he's unique because he's great or anything. I'm just saying there aren't a lot of players that do what he did this year. In fact, according to my list, there's two others: Durant and Noah (players who get 12 PPG, 7 RPG, 5 APG). If you lower the rebounds to 6, you add LeBron and Michael Carter-Williams. Even lowering Assists the 4 while keeping rebounds down to 6 only adds two more players: Lance Stephenson and Kevin Love. Going the other way, if you filter by Per36, Nic is alone in the field: http://bkref.com/tiny/cTT8m He is the only player in the NBA to give you 13 points, 5 assists, and 7 rebounds in 36 minutes. There is no player like him, for better or worse. I'm not going out on a limb when I say that he's pretty much unique in the NBA, a true generalist in a field of specialists. His closest analog is Lance, who is slightly worse in most respects, but a bargain because he's still on his rookie deal... it'll be interesting to see how much money he'll make when he gets his next contract. Nic can't score like the superstars in the list with him. He can't rebound like Noah. But one player that can give you 13, 7, and 5 is hard to find, and in my opinion worth the money because of the fit. But I'm biased because in my job I'm a generalist among specialists also. And I'm paid well for all the little things I provide to my team.
