The Clippers have clearly been waiting on a shoe to drop for the past week or so in free agency – and the clear target has been Hornet’s forward Nicolas Batum. The Hornets and Celtics have been going back and forth on working out a sign and trade deal for Gordon Hayward, which delayed the release of Batum. But now, he’s been waived, and both Marc Stein of the New York Times and Shams Charania of the Athletic report that Nic Batum will sign with the Clippers.
Batum is a 12-year NBA veteran who has played 7 seasons for the Trailblazers and 5 for the Hornets. He was considered one of the better non All-Star wings in the NBA in his prime, but those years are long past. On a young team that wanted to give its prospects run last year, Batum played in a mere 22 games, and was dreadful in them, scoring 3.6 points per game on 34.6% shooting from the field and 28.6% shooting from three. That’s awful.
However, while Batum will be 32 in a month, he was dealing with an injury last year, and was at least a replaceable level wing the previous two seasons, even if he was vastly overpaid. If he can return to that level, he will be a solid enough signing for the veteran’s minimum.
Batum will slot in as the Clippers’ reserve small forward behind superstar Kawhi Leonard, offering a far more experienced wing backup compared to Amir Coffey, Terance Mann, and Jayden Scrubb. When playing well, Batum offers competent defense at both forward positions, excellent playmaking from the wing, and solid three-point shooting (35.7% career from deep).
This is somewhat of a risk-reward gamble compared to younger free agent signings such as Glenn Robinson III and Rondae-Hollis Jefferson. If Batum plays to the level of the 2018 and 2019 seasons, he’s an upgrade over those guys due to his playmaking and shooting. If, however, he’s more like the player we saw last year, he’s virtually unplayable, offering little outside of some passing and ok defense. Robinson seems a guarantee to provide acceptable play on both sides of the ball, and RHJ is likely to give very good defense with not much on offense. The Clippers don’t need Batum to be great, but they do need Leonard’s backup to be playable, and there’s some question of that regarding Nic.
With Batum signed, the Clippers will have 13 players under guaranteed contract for next season, along with the non-guaranteed deal of Joakim Noah (sure to be waived) and Coffey and Scrubb on two-way deals. That means they have one signing left, likely either a reserve point guard, another defensive-minded wing, or a veteran big man.
Give your thought on the Clippers deciding to sign Nic Batum in the comments below!
213Hoops is an independently owned and operated L.A. Clippers blog by Clippers fans, for Clippers fans. If you enjoy our content, please consider subscribing to our Patreon. Subscriptions start at $1 a month and support from readers like you goes a long way towards helping us keep 213Hoops sustainable, growing, and thriving.
