Our player preview series for the 2024 Clippers season continues with Nicolas Batum, who is going into what is reportedly his final season in the NBA.

Basic Information

Height: 6’8″

Weight: 230 pounds

Position: Power Forward

Age: 34

Years in NBA: 14

Key Clippers Stats: 6.1 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 1.6 assists in 21.9 minutes per game across 56 games on 42.0/39.1/70.8 shooting splits in the regular season.

Contract Status: $11.7M this year; unrestricted free agent next summer (2024).

Expectations

The “Power Forward” (in quotes because we are no longer in the era of the Elton Brand style big man) position is the most controversial spot on the Clippers’ roster. Nico Batum, however, is the least controversial piece in that puzzle: Clippers Nation can reasonably expect Nico to play solid defense against a range of offenders, shoot well on catch-and-shoot attempts, and make few, if any, mistakes in his role.

How much we can expect Nico to play, though, will need to be reset. Over the last three seasons (his time with the Clippers), Batum’s minutes per game have gone from 27.4 to 24.8 to 21.9. Along with Marcus Morris, Sr. and Russell Westbrook, Batum is 34 years old, so it is not surprising that the Clippers’ have managed his minutes. What’s more, Nico has taken on a big load for the French national team and is still, despite the drop in minutes per game, one of the leaders in minutes played for the Clippers over the last few years. Therefore, it is likely that we see Batum’s playing time take another hit—maybe as low as 18-19 minutes per game, even if he ends up being the starter on paper. This is especially likely given that Kenyon Martin, Sr. and Mason Plumlee are expected to be key parts of the Clippers’ rotation at small forward and center respectively.

Strengths

On the offensive end, Batum’s primary strength is his three-point shooting. Although he is liable to have games-long shooting slumps, he still made 39.1% of his threes over 78 games. He only took 4.1 three point attempts per game last year, so it would nice to see that number go up, especially if we get a full season of Westbrook, Paul George, and Kawhi Leonard.

On defense, Batum can (reasonably, though not expertly) guard one-through-five and is a smart help defender. His counting stats (3.8 rebounds, 0.6 blocks, and 0.7 steals per game) do not jump off the page, but he has a knack of making key blocks and steals at important points of games.

Weaknesses

Nico’s weaknesses are not really weaknesses; instead, 1) he does not play as much as one would like for their third-best forward and 2) there is “slippage” in his skill. Regarding the latter point, for example, Batum had about 30 games in which he shot 25% or worse from three. Sure, some of those are 0/1 games, but he also had quite a few 1/5s and was a liability on offense in the playoffs until Game 5, when the series was already over. This season, the challenge for Batum will be to play consistently—that is, avoid long shooting slumps—even if his overall production or efficiency slips.

Summary

In sum, Nico Batum has solved more problems than he has caused during his time with the Clippers. He is still an extremely useful role player for the Clippers, but he is in a race against Father Time. If he can continue to shoot well from three and contribute on the defensive end, he can retire at the end of the season with his head held high and Clippers Nation will continue to love him.

Clippers 2023-2024 Season Preview: Nicolas Batum
Kenneth Armstrong

According to Yahoo Sports’ Chris Haynes, the Clippers have re-signed veteran forward Nicolas Batum to a 2-year, $22 million contract.

It’s a perfect number for Batum, who took a paycut last season to give the team more flexibility and now is able to sign a more lucrative deal with the Clippers having his early bird rights. Those rights allow the team to pay him up to 105% of the league average salary, which is right around these estimated numbers. Early bird contracts must run for at least two seasons before any options, which is why this is a common deal for returning veterans who have been with teams for two seasons–and the same exact deal the Clippers signed Reggie Jackson to last summer. Batum was expected to be courted by numerous teams, but it never seemed likely that there would be a legitimate threat to lure him away from the Clippers. The veteran forward will turn 34 this December and the team will hope to keep him in the mix with a low minutes load throughout the year before turning to him more heavily in their small-ball postseason lineups.

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.

NBA Free Agency: Clippers re-sign Nicolas Batum to 2-year contract
Lucas Hann

According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Clippers forward Nicolas Batum is going to decline his player option in order to become a free agent this summer. It’s an expected move for the 33-year-old veteran, who can get significantly more than the $3.3M salary he opted out of by signing a new deal with the Clippers or soliciting offers from other teams.

Batum has a rather unique financial situation. After never quite living up to a 5-year, $120M deal signed with Charlotte, he found himself out of the Hornets’ rotation in 2019-20 (the fourth year of that contract) and then released before the beginning of the 2020-21 season, despite being owed a bit over $27M that year. That $27M was “stretched,” meaning the Hornets paid Batum $9,043,478 to play for the Clippers each of the last two years, and will pay him the final $9M due on that contract this upcoming season. That subsidization from Charlotte makes it a little easier for Nico to be flexible and take paycuts–which is exactly what happened last summer.
After playing just one year with the Clippers on a minimum-salary deal, Batum hit free agency in 2021, but the team only had what are called his “non-bird rights,” meaning the biggest contract they could offer him was 120% of the minimum salary. Despite playing at a level that would have priced a new deal somewhere between $8M and $12M, Batum took a paycut to return to the Clippers on a one-year deal worth $2.6M with a player option for $3.3M in 2022-23. Now, after a similarly successful second season as a Clipper, the team has Batum’s “early bird rights,” which allow them to offer him a more lucrative contract–up to around $10.9M starting salary. That should easily be enough to keep Nico, whose free agent market would cut off at the non-taxpayer mid-level exception, worth $10,349,000 this summer.

Remember that Batum will still get that final $9M from the Hornets this year as well, which would presumably make maximizing his salary this off-season less of a priority. However, at 33 years old he could look to leverage these two good seasons with the Clippers into what is likely his last shot at a lucrative, multi-year deal. Would LAC put up a 3-year, $34M offer to retain Batum’s services? The team already owes veteran power forward Marcus Morris $33.5M over the next two years and just gave veteran power forward Robert Covington a 2-year, $24M extension, and even the high-spending Steve Ballmer has to have a tipping point on green-lighting luxury tax expenses. Still, in this case, I would expect that Batum will be back on a 2 or 3-year deal. He seems to have very little interest in playing elsewhere and has been one of the team’s most versatile and valuable role players in the last two seasons.

Report: Nicolas Batum to decline player option
Lucas Hann

With the 2022 NBA Finals between the Boston Celtics and Golden State Warriors concluded, the league will officially shift to a place where the Clippers have already been for quite some time: the off-season. On the surface, the Clippers actually have very little work to do–10 of the 15 players who were on their NBA roster last season are under contract for next season, and retaining the four potential free agents who the team is interested in keeping (sorry, Rodney Hood) should be relatively straightforward. It helps, of course, that they signed Robert Covington to a 2-year, $24 million dollar extension earlier in the off-season to avoid him being a free agent as well.

That framework allows the Clippers to explore some upgrade possibilities this off-season, rather than simply trying to scrape together a roster for next season. Including a few guys who aren’t yet 100% secured for next year, the team has 12 proven rotation-caliber players. It’s a testament to the team’s depth that they were one of the deepest teams in the NBA last season while missing Kawhi Leonard for the entire 2021-22 campaign and Paul George for over half of it. Those injuries created a playing time void that was filled by guys like Terance Mann, Luke Kennard, Amir Coffey, and newcomer Robert Covington, all of whom acquitted themselves well as significant rotation players. Then there’s deadline acquisition Norman Powell, who hardly played for LAC due to a broken foot but figures to be a major part of their plans going forward. All things considered, it seems essentially impossible to keep everyone happy with their role for a full, hopefully mostly healthy season, putting a little pressure on the Clippers to find some kind of consolidation trade that nets them one higher-value player (either due to starpower or age/upside/contract/skillset) in exchange for two or more of their current guys. And if (when?) they make such a trade, the ripple effects will be significant down the roster. That means that the number one item on the Clippers’ agenda right now has to be…

1) Searching For The Big One

The Clippers probably are a “third star” short of being the best version of themselves. I don’t think they need a better third-best player to win a title, but I certainly don’t think it would hurt. He doesn’t necessarily have to be a high-volume scorer, either–Golden State’s Steph Curry/Klay Thompson/Draymond Green combination and Boston’s Jayson Tatum/Jaylen Brown/Marcus Smart trio both contain a player not as known for his offensive prowess. But both Thompson and Smart (for my money, the #3 on each team) are head-and-shoulders ahead of anyone on the Clippers’ roster not named Kawhi Leonard and Paul George (the same is true for the third-best player on the 2021 champs, Jrue Holiday). You can say that the Clippers have a better star duo, and that will certainly have to be true for them to win the 2023 title, and you can say that they have superior depth as well. But depth just doesn’t matter as much on the biggest stage. In a pivotal NBA Finals game 5, Boston played a 7-man rotation while the Warriors went with 8. I love Amir Coffey, but Amir Coffey being a better 11th man than Nik Stauskas and Damion Lee wouldn’t impact a potential LAC-BOS or LAC-GSW series.

In the pursuit of a championship, the Clippers’ extreme depth is most certainly expendable in exchange for even marginal upgrades at the top of the rotation, getting just a bit better in the roles that play 40 minutes in must-win games. Rather than spending a ton of time zeroing in on potential targets, let’s take a look at where the current Clippers fall in the “building a trade package” calculus:

• Untouchable: Paul George and Kawhi Leonard. We aren’t going backwards here, folks.
• Untradeable: Nico Batum, Isaiah Hartenstein, Amir Coffey, Jay Scrubb. Personal preferences aside, pending free agents can’t be traded, and outgoing sign-and-trades as part of a package to bring back a bigger name seem pretty unlikely (although with Amir an outgoing S&T could be possible).
• Tough Pills to Swallow: Reggie Jackson, Norman Powell, Terance Mann, Robert Covington, and Ivica Zubac. Powell is the team’s third-best player and apparently doesn’t have a ton of trade value due to his 5-year contract (since the Clippers got him for next to nothing a few months ago). Jackson and Zubac are both important starters without replacements on the current roster. Mann is a homegrown prospect, fan favorite, and franchise legend. Covington had a stellar half-season with LAC and just signed an extension… at the exact dollar amount that allows him to be traded this off-season without a waiting period. All of these guys would hurt to lose, but if the right deal came along you’d say a tearful goodbye.
• Expendable: Luke Kennard and Marcus Morris. Both of these guys have given the Clippers good play, but when you look at LAC’s extreme depth they’re the most expendable players who you could see other teams really wanting. Between Powell, Mann, and Coffey, Kennard is expendable as a backup wing, and Morris is the logical odd man out in the PF conversation with Covington and Batum.
• Assets/Sweetener: 2027 1st round swap, 2028 1st round, 2029 1st round swap, 2022 pick #43, 2023-2026 LAC 2nds, 2028-2029 LAC 2nds, Brandon Boston Jr. In addition to the future picks, Boston would be a nice acquisition for a rebuilding team that can invest minutes in his development.
• Filler: Jason Preston, Rodney Hood S&T, Xavier Moon S&T, TPEs. Preston seems unlikely to be traded since the Clippers like him as a prospect but he hasn’t actually performed on the court to garner interest around the league. The Clippers could technically use non-bird rights to S&T Hood or Moon to slightly above-minimum deals to help with salary matching, but it’s unlikely that those slim margins would make or break a deal. Their TPEs can’t be added together or added to player salaries to make trade math work, but they could use them to absorb smaller undesirable contracts from a trade partner to add value to their offer.

I’m not going to get too into the range of options for the Clippers here because it’s so wide-open. Almost any player could fit in a lineup built around Paul George and Kawhi Leonard, and I could see anyone else moving to the bench if the right big name came in at their position. This gives LA’s front office the flexibility to go after the best player they can get on the trade market, almost regardless of position. One thing to keep in mind: targets essentially have to be players already under contract. Acquiring a signed-and-traded player places a hard cap on that team’s cap sheet for the year, and the Clippers are well over that threshold. It’s hard enough to see them cutting enough money to get under it, let alone getting far enough under it to then add a substantial new contract without passing it again.

2) Core Re-Signings

One of the downsides of having such a wide-open hunt for a talent upgrade on the trade market is not knowing what the ripple effects will be on the rest of the roster. However, after extending the contract of Robert Covington, I think that in pretty much any scenario the Clippers will also look to ensure that Nico Batum (player option) and Ivica Zubac (team option) are back on the team next year (unless they pick up Zubac’s option and/or extend his deal as part of the aforementioned big trade).

Batum is only due $3.3M on his player option for 2022-23 after taking a steep pay cut last summer to allow the Clippers to use their taxpayer mid-level exception elsewhere (Justise Winslow). It helps, of course, that he’s made over $160M so far and is still getting paid $9M by the Charlotte Hornets through next season, with that amount partially reduced if he gets a lucrative deal from a new team. It also probably helps that he struggled under the pressure and criticism of meeting the expectations of his massive contract and Charlotte, and that he would probably rather not be in a position to have his contract be a big expiring that the team might want to trade down the line. Either way, I’d expect him to decline his player option–with the Clippers having his early bird rights, they can now give him a contract starting at up to about $12M and running up to 4 years in length. I would guess that a compromise is in order: a multi-year deal in the 8-12M range that gives him financial security after the Charlotte checks stop coming. A reunion seems highly likely.

The Clippers have a team option for Ivica Zubac worth $7.5M next season, which gives them an abundance of options. They can always just pick up that option and worry about his next contract next summer, or they can negotiate an extension, or they can decline his option with a handshake deal for a larger, longer contract in place for when free agency opens. If he ends up being a part of a trade, they would have to pick up his option and flip it, with an extend-and-trade being unlikely due to financial constraints (he can only get a 5% raise, which he shouldn’t accept). Even if the Clippers acquire a big-name center via trade, declining Zubac’s option outright to let him walk in free agency seems unlikely. He would of course be a candidate to be a part of that trade, but if he wasn’t, it would be preferable to keep him as the backup and save the taxpayer mid-level (which is probably going to Isaiah Hartenstein) for another position.

3) Rotation Re-Signings

While I feel pretty sure that Batum will be back with the Clippers next season and Zubac will either be on the team or a part of a major trade package, the same can’t be said for LAC’s two rotation free agents who are a little lower on the priority list: Isaiah Hartenstein and Amir Coffey. Both had phenomenal seasons for the Clippers last year and there’s no reason to believe that a divorce is inevitable, but their departures are certainly possible.

Hartenstein was only with the Clippers for one year on a minimum-salary deal, severely limiting their options to retain him. The good news is that due to their robust depth, there should be no concern about using the taxpayer mid-level exception on a backup center (as long as backup C is still where the need lies, depending on how trades shift the depth chart). That deal would start at $6.4M and could last for up to 3 years with 5% raises for a total of just over $20M. To me, that seems like a perfectly reasonable deal. In fact, you could probably even keep Hart for a shade less and save a few bucks to give the 43rd overall pick a 3-year contract out of that taxpayer MLE. If Hartenstein does leave, whether it be for money, role, or another reason, that contract should be enough to give the Clippers a nice selection of alternative backup centers, a player pool that Robert Flom broke down recently.

Coffey is easier for the Clippers to retain, since he’s a restricted free agent with full bird rights, but perhaps harder to justify since he’s unlikely to be a top-10 rotation player for them next year and the luxury tax bill is mounting. It’s really going to depend what the market is for him around the league, and if teams are going to try to test Ballmer’s willingness to spend extra tax dollars on an 11th man. Sometimes, it works out where lower-caliber restricted free agents just get no interest around the league and re-sign on the cheap (see Montrezl Harrell a few years ago). Sometimes teams overpay to pry away a player they know a team doesn’t want to pay. For example, if the Clips can’t think their depth out via trade and Amir is going to be the 12th man next year, are they really going to match a 10M deal that will cost Ballmer another ~40M in luxury tax penalties? Lastly, sometimes teams try to get a guy while avoiding overpaying by negotiating a sign-and-trade and providing compensation to get around the right of first refusal. It would really be a bummer to lose Amir, but if the Clippers are stuck between letting him walk for nothing, paying $50M for an 11th man, and getting a couple 2nds via S&T, it wouldn’t surprise me to see them choose the latter.

4) The Fringes

Once that’s all settled, there honestly won’t be much to do. Current NBA roster rules state that you get 15 full-time NBA players plus 2 two-way contracts. If you operate under the baseline assumption that the Clippers don’t make a trade and re-sign/retain Batum, Zubac, Hartenstein, and Coffey, then whoever they select with the 43rd overall pick will take the 15th roster spot. They’re expected to keep Jay Scrubb around for a third two-way year, while Xavier Moon is a bigger question mark–one presumes that the now-healthy Jason Preston will get any and all spare PG minutes. The Clippers could look for someone at another position and/or younger than Moon, who is 27.

So, the “run it back” plan means the only changes to the Clippers’ roster this summer would be pick 43 replacing Rodney Hood and maybe a new undrafted free agent/g-league guy replacing Xavier Moon. Working backwards from that, you can figure the rest out: if they make a 2-for-1 trade and everything else goes according to plan, there will be one extra slot for a minimum salary guy; if they make a 2-for-1 trade and keep Batum/Zubac/Hartenstein but lose Coffey, there will be two, etc. But before zeroing in on targets for these depth spots, we need to know where in the depth chart they are after the dust settles from any trades.

The Clippers’ 2022 Off-Season Checklist
Lucas Hann

Lucas, Rob, and Shap wrap up their All Star Player Grades after a fun Part 1 with Part 2 including Ty Lue. Players included: Serge, Zu, Justise, Hart, Nico, RoCo, Mook, Moses Wright, Wenyen Gabriel, Semi Ojeleye.

Check out the podcast here! Be sure to rate and review us five stars on whatever platform you listen to us on, and give us feedback in the comments below!

All Star Break Player Grades, Part 2
Shapan Debnath

According to The Athletic’s Shams Charania, the LA Clippers have re-signed veteran forward Nicolas Batum to a 2-year contract. Update: Andrew Greif also of the LA Times reports that Batum’s deal has a player option for the second year, and that he signed as a non-bird free agent–meaning LAC still has their $5.9M taxpayer mid-level exception to use to pursue another free agent.

Batum was a standout for the Clippers on a redemption tour last season after being cut from the Charlotte Hornets during the off-season. At times, he was the team’s third- or fourth-best all-around player, letting others do the volume scoring while he hit threes, made smart cuts, moved the ball, and played excellent on-ball and help defense at multiple positions.

This is a really important re-signing for the Clippers, who are trying to keep a Western Conference Finals team together while also account for the absence of Kawhi Leonard for much or all of next season. But just how excellent it is for the team will come down to the final terms: obviously Nico is worth well more than $5.9 million dollars, but if the Clippers gave him that deal then their taxpayer mid-level exception is gone and they only have minimum deals left to work with. However, if he signed for his non-bird rights amount of $3.2 million, the Clippers would still have that $5.9M to chase another free agent. I won’t be upset at all if Nico got the bigger amount, as he’s more than earned it, but it’s something to watch as we wait to see what else LAC has in store this week.

Update: So, about that… with the LA Times’ Andrew Greif reporting that this is a non-bird contract for Batum, the Clippers will save their $5.9M mid-level exception to utilize on another free agent. This is a major boost to the team’s efforts to build a balanced roster that can remain competitive next season with Kawhi Leonard missing time. It’s unclear where the team will utilize that money at this stage–particularly as we wait to see if Reggie Jackson is returning to the Clippers via early bird rights–but the players in their price range will represent a significant upgrade over minimum-salary guys. Think the difference between getting Patty Mills or Elfrid Payton to replace Reggie, or the difference between Otto Porter Jr. or Semi Ojeleye as a backup small forward.

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.

Clippers Re-Sign Nicolas Batum
Lucas Hann

Did you have Nicolas Batum performing competently on your 2020-21 bingo card? With the clouds of his previous lucrative contract dissipated, Batum now finds himself outperforming his new minimum deal with the Los Angeles Clippers, as Batum’s offense has been a welcome addition for the franchise.

Just like every other team in the NBA, the Clippers have suffered a myriad of setbacks in reaching their ceiling early in the season: Marcus Morris, fresh off a 4 year, $64 million deal, is dealing with a knee issue and remains sidelined; Kawhi Leonard is playing with a mask following a mouth laceration; Luke Kennard is still adjusting to the game after not playing since early 2020; Reggie Jackson is still Reggie Jackson.

But just like we all expected, Nicolas Batum has emerged as a sound rotational player, averaging 10.6 points, 6.0 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 0.9 steals in 29 minutes per game, filling in as the primary four while Morris heals. More impressive are his shooting splits of 51.6/45.7/93.8, a year removed from an abhorrent 34.6/28.6/90 season.  He’s coming off another strong game against the Phoenix Suns in which he hit 4-7 (57%) from deep, including a dagger three to repel Phoenix’s last push.

Despite the breaches in the rotation, the Clippers have catapulted to a 5-2 record, tied for first in the staunch Western Conference, and Batum’s offense has assisted that start.

Batum’s momentous output through seven games always circles back to his shooting. Last season’s abysmal production from deep in Charlotte rang bells of concern when Los Angeles picked him up. Would his shooting revert to his career average three-point percentage of 35.7? Or was last season a clear indicator the 32-year-old forward was destined for “washed” territory? This blistering start has put those concerns to sleep. Off this baseline out-of-bounds set (BLOB), the Clippers run an elbow stagger for Paul George to curl off of as Batum is situated just outside the initial down screen by Patrick Beverley. Beverley will leak out to the corner, and Batum will split between the screens as Serge Ibaka sets another one for Batum. Jae Crowder is caught ball-watching, allowing for George to stop his drive and find Batum for the open look. Splash.

Here’s another BLOB set later in the game. This time, it’s a wide pindown for Paul George, a play he’s commonly involved in. Mikal Bridges’ defensive prowess cuts off the dribble hand-off, but Devin Booker gets caught in a daze after Ivica Zubac’s down screen, permitting Batum to pop out for a three. Splash. Batum’s three-point resurgence hasn’t sparked just himself, but the entire squad. When Batum is on the floor, the Clippers are hitting their non-corner threes at a difference of +11.2%, ranking in the 92nd percentile, per Cleaning the Glass. That number will likely decrease under more minutes, but as the last two plays indicated, Ty Lue can trust Batum in these spots to convert.

Speaking of trust, how about Batum’s dagger mentioned earlier? Ibaka sets the high screen for George, but Deandre Ayton sticks to Ibaka rather than cutting off George’s lane downhill. That forced Devin Booker to collapse into the paint, freeing up the path to pass to an open Batum. Chris Paul cannot rotate in time. Splash. Batum is essentially a new toy dusted off from the top shelf for initiators like George and Leonard. With the abilities of George and Leonard to drive-and-kick, Batum’s offense, theoretically, is perfect. Per NBA.com tracking data, Batum is shooting 50% on catch-and-shoot triples; three-point attempts comprise 58.5% of Batum’s overall attempts.

Here’s Batum in action with George against Portland. LA runs a stagger screen for George, which flows into a George-Ibaka pick-and-roll set. Jusuf Nurkic shows high to prevent George’s downhill lane as CJ McCollum tagged Ibaka’s roll. That opened a window for George to hit Batum in the corner. Splash. Batum is usually on the court with one of George or Leonard in at all times, and we’ve seen the chemistry developing between George and Batum. Per pbpstats, Batum has played 158 of 202 minutes with George on the court. George’s expertise in setting Batum up has led to Batum possessing an eFG% of 63.2 with George versus a 57.1 clip without.

Moving to assists, Batum’s assists per game have steadily dipped since eclipsing at 5.9 a game in 2016-17 with Charlotte. Last season, he averaged 3.0 APG, not a stark difference to the 2.9 he currently averages. But there’s context to that; Batum didn’t play alongside stars like George and Leonard in Charlotte. Assists per game don’t always tell the complete story, either. Per nba.com tracking data, Batum is averaging 4.4 potential assists per game, fourth-most on the team. The typical ball-handling triumvirate of George, Leonard and Lou Williams spearhead that category.Still, Batum’s a ball-moving forward, a contrast to Morris, who often counters that trait. Per Cleaning the Glass, Batum’s usage rate of 11.3% ranks in the 9th percentile among fellow forwards. However, his assist-to-usage ratio is at a beaming 1:16, good for the 98th percentile. Batum’s excelled in this category dating back to his Portland days, but it’s a positive sign for a Clippers team hoping to secure a balanced attack with a variety of players. Batum’s offense has been superbly effective. The eye test definitely supports his per-100-possession offensive rating of 139 and a defensive rating of 113, a +26 differential, which would be a career-high if it sustains. Not only that, but his points per shot attempt mark of 135.6 ranks in the 91st percentile, a perceptible distinction from being in the 10th percentile a season ago, per Cleaning the Glass. While the Clippers wait for Morris to fully heal, Batum, even when he inevitably comes off the bench, is flying under the radar as one of the offseason’s best transactions by any team this season.

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.

Nicolas Batum’s offense has been a welcome addition
Sanjesh Singh

Dr. Shap, Robert Flom, and Lucas Hann discuss a historic 51-point loss to the Dallas Mavericks fresh off the loss, but try and stay positive with the week that was. Otherwise, the Clippers start the season 2-1 with solid wins over the Los Angeles Lakers and Denver Nuggets. The three discuss storylines from the first week of the season and gear up for four more games in week 2.

Check out the pod here! Be sure to rate and review us five stars on whatever platform you listen to us on, and give us feedback 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.

TLTJTP: Clippers Start the Season 2-1
Shapan Debnath

With opening night for the Clippers just around the corner, we’re continuing our season preview series by looking at Nicolas Batum, who joined the team as a late free agent acquisition.

Basic Information

Height: 6’9″
Weight: 230 lbs
Position: Forward
Age: 32
Years in NBA: 12
Key Stats: Played just 22 games for Charlotte last year, averaging 3.6 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 3.0 assists while shooting 34.6% from the field and 28.6% from deep.

The year prior, in a more significant sample size, appeared in 75 games, playing 31.4 minutes per game and averaging 9.3 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 3.3 assists while shooting 45% from the field and 38.9% from three.

Contract Status: Signed a one-year, veteran’s minimum contract that will pay him about $2.6M but only count for $1.6M against the hard cap.

Expectations

While Nicolas Batum never came close to living up to his 5-year, $120 million dollar deal in Charlotte, he was still a positive contributor–until last season. A combination of injuries, conditioning, poor play, and a preference for younger options caused the Hornets to go away from Batum for most of the year, and he was truly awful in the 22 games that he did play. But for a new team, there are plenty of reasons to assume that a healthy, motivated Batum could be a quality role player again at 32 years old. In the 2018-19 season, he was solid (but unspectacular) as a glue guy who can hit an open three, make a simple read to drive or pass, and use his size and length to be a positive defender across multiple positions.

For the Clippers this season, they really only need him to do each of those things at an average level to be well worth his minimum-salary deal and nightly minutes. Heading into the season, he appears to be safely in coach Ty Lue’s plans. During the pre-season, he started at power forward in place of Marcus Morris, and when Morris returns to the lineup we can expect to see plenty of Batum at power forward on the second unit in a lineup with Terance Mann, Lou Williams, Luke Kennard, and Ivica Zubac. In that lineup, he’ll add a lot of value defensively working with Mann to cover for Lou and Luke, but there isn’t a lot of shooting in that lineup so they’ll really need his three-point shot to bounce back after last season.

Ultimately, it looks like we’ll be seeing quite a bit of Batum this season, and I’d venture to say he’s the 9th man heading into the year. He’s the primary backup PF and fill-in starter for Morris, but I also expect that he’ll see time at small forward on load management nights. As long as his quality of play is adequate, it’s easy to see Batum fitting in to a lot of lineups as a gluey role player who will likely be low-impact but also make very few mistakes.

Strengths

Probably the most enticing aspect of Batum’s game from the Clippers’ perspective is his defensive ability. He had a strong defensive reputation earlier in his career, and even in recent years Charlotte used him on star wings–though it’s worth noting that the Hornets have been dreadful in recent years and didn’t have very many other options. In reality, Batum shouldn’t be your best option against the league’s stars, but he’ll bring a positive presence to his lineups as the Clippers’ fourth-best wing defender behind Paul George, Kawhi Leonard, and Morris. A step slow at this point in his career, he might be well-suited to his shift to more power forward minutes, but his 6’9″, lengthy frame makes up for a lot of mistakes. He won’t stay in front of quicker guards, but he will be able to defend most second unit players at shooting guard, small forward, and power forward.

Offensively, Batum’s shooting might be his x-factor, but it’s not quite a strength. Even with an uptick from last season’s small-sample 29%, his career average of 35.7% is just average for a backup forward. His strength is really his playmaking ability, which exceeds what you’ll get from most backup forwards. He isn’t a primary distributor by any means, but he can run a secondary pick-and-roll and read the defense to make smart passes. Without a player like Chris Paul or Ricky Rubio joining the team to create for others, Batum is part of an upgraded playmaking ensemble–including incumbent Lou Williams and newcomer Luke Kennard–who will try to ease the team’s offensive stagnation.

Weaknesses

Probably the best thing about Batum is that he doesn’t have any egregious weaknesses. Where other options at this tier might be non-shooters, horrible defenders, or poor decision-makers, Batum is adequate in each area. If there’s one thing that will probably become a recurring annoyance, it’s that he has a tendency to be overly timid and passive offensively. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing on a team with a ton of high-usage scorers and offensive firepower, but it could be frustrating at times if good possessions end with Nic passing up shots.

Just as I said above that Batum’s shooting isn’t quite a strength, it isn’t quite a weakness either… but it could end up becoming one. If Nic can hit 39% of his threes like he did two years ago, he’ll make huge contributions this season. If he shoots 29% like he did last season, it seems like he’ll find his way out of the rotation soon enough. In the 33-35% range, he will have some utility but could hold back the Clippers’ offense at times as defenses funnel shots to him (like Luc Mbah a Moute years ago).

Summary

While Batum isn’t likely to have any type of breakout or huge nights where he’s the center of attention, he has the potential to be a solid and consistent second-unit player that helps Ty Lue build viable lineups around his more dangerous game changers. As long as he can do that, he’ll be tremendous value on his minimum-salary deal.

Clippers 2020-2021 Season Preview: Nicolas Batum
Lucas Hann