OT What's up with Batum?

Discussion in 'Portland Trail Blazers' started by Rastapopoulos, Feb 21, 2020.

  1. Jelloman

    Jelloman Well-Known Member

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    So that's an excuse to not need to get better? Role player mentality kicked in, but I remember the drama he created when he wanted that big contract with Portland. Didn't sound like he think he should get paid as a 4th 5th option who didn't need play run for him.
     
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  2. THE HCP

    THE HCP NorthEastPortland'sFinest

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    Why would you care about his compensation? It didn't hinder us in acquiring other pieces. Probably the best 4th or 5th option in the league while he was here. What you should be upset about was his replacements.
     
  3. Jelloman

    Jelloman Well-Known Member

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    I am just disappointed that he didn't reach what he could have been. Or it seems like he wasn't trying hard enough to reach it given the players that he played with Roy, Mathews, Lillard, ROLO. All have hearts for the game and always gives their 100% on the court. If only he get a little bit of that rubbed off onto him and show up more often for his team.
     
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  4. THE HCP

    THE HCP NorthEastPortland'sFinest

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    Understood. I just know he was the prefect compliment to those teams on both ends. And as far as him reaching his full potential, He blew my expectations out of the water. I don't expect anything from anybody picked past the lottery to be honest.
     
  5. THE HCP

    THE HCP NorthEastPortland'sFinest

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    Look who got picked AHEAD of him. C'Mon FAMS. We redo this draft he's way up towards the top. If i'm not mistaken we got Nico for 2 scrubs anyway. I'm content with what we got out of him.

    Screen Shot 2020-07-16 at 11.31.57 AM.png
     
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  6. kjironman1

    kjironman1 Well-Known Member

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    Certainly ended up better than Brandon Rush.
     
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  7. CupWizier

    CupWizier Well-Known Member

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    Problem with Batum, his compensation soon reached beyond his production. 25 mil for a 4th or 5th option would have really put this team in a much worse situation.
     
  8. Rastapopoulos

    Rastapopoulos Well-Known Member

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    That's not a problem with Batum, that's a problem with management.

    Batum reminds me of Derrick McKey - another excellent role player (the Pacers traded Detlef Schrempf for him and got better) who everyone expected more from. Remember, Batum is one of very few NBA players to have a 5 x 5. (We are lucky to currently have another!) Also, he was great at everyone's fave play: the chasedown block.
     
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  9. CupWizier

    CupWizier Well-Known Member

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    Which is exactly why management was smart to trade him before his next contract came due and made it a Charlotte management problem. He was a solid player, but just not 25 mil solid.

    I also see you're a Leeds United fan. Congrats on moving into the premier league. I look forward to playing your team next year. Man U and Timbers all the way.
     
  10. MickZagger

    MickZagger Well-Known Member

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    I suppose he was much better than Anthony Randolph
     
  11. Rastapopoulos

    Rastapopoulos Well-Known Member

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    Batum in 2019:



    (I really hope the next "scrap heap" player Olshey picks up is Ntilikina...)
     
    Last edited: Jul 18, 2020
  12. Rastapopoulos

    Rastapopoulos Well-Known Member

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    MARCELO BIELSA BABEEEE!


     
    Last edited: Jul 18, 2020
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  13. Rastapopoulos

    Rastapopoulos Well-Known Member

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    To be fair to Batum: he's not sitting because he's useless, he's sitting because Charlotte (a) wants to develop the young guys and (b) has no incentive to win games. My nightmare is that they amnesty him and he goes to the Lakers and helps them much more than the JR Smiths of this world will.
     
  14. tykendo

    tykendo Don't Tread On PDX

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    Nic definitely needs a new landing spot. His career has fallen off the edge in Charlotte. Kinda sad actually. When i watched him last year, he looked like the forgotten man on the court. Kinda running in oblivion .
     
  15. B-Roy

    B-Roy If it takes months

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    I'll just throw this stat out there. Nic has 28 field goals total in over 500 minutes of playtime this season, by far the lowest for anyone that has played the type of minutes he has.
     
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  16. Rastapopoulos

    Rastapopoulos Well-Known Member

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    Unselfish to a fault.
     
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  17. mook

    mook The 2018-19 season was the best I've seen

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    In a weird way, it kind of is. He looks around at a roster of kids trying to earn their next contract and realizes every shot he takes is a shot somebody else won't. He's not winning anything, he's not going to get another big contract, and he really needs to be moved. Unless he's wide open, it's probably best for his teammates if he just defers.

    I wrote a few months ago that I hope we don't sign him on a vet minimum for a year, but after watching Melo and Ariza find their niche on the team, I'm kind of re-thinking it. He is a good locker room guy and he's still long and smart.

    However, the guy I'm more interested in is Aminu. He tore his knee 18 games into the season and still has 2 years left on his $10m/year deal. His stats were terrible. But I wonder if it's just how they were using him.

    If we're rolling the dice on a an ex-Blazer forward, I like my odds with him a lot more.
     
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  18. Rastapopoulos

    Rastapopoulos Well-Known Member

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    Batum has turned into Boris Diaw,* which is no real surprise, because Diaw was his mentor and the generation just before him when French Basketball broke through. Parker is the anomaly rather than the rule - the game is about the team, and individual stats don't really matter. And as we saw with Diaw, he really needed to be in the right context to be valuable. When Batum finally gets dropped from the French National team, you'll know he really is done.

    *although without the weight gain (yet).
     
  19. Minstrel

    Minstrel Top Of The Pops Global Moderator

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    I agree. I could see him thriving in Diaw's role on the Spurs of that era, and I could see him thriving today in the Andre Iguodala role for the Warriors. He needs to be somewhere that can leverage his smarts and passing on offense and otherwise just needs him to play tough, switchable defense. And if this year was an anomaly in terms of shooting, he can provide more three-point pop than Iggy.
     
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  20. Pinwheel1

    Pinwheel1 Well-Known Member

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    I liked Nic and I didn't blame him for getting his contract with Minnesota nor with our decision to match it.
    But I certainly did not blame the Blazers for trading him to Charlotte. We knew what he was going to demand with his next contract and he just was not worth it at that point in time. Vonleh was a young gamble and one I would take again.
     
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