Wednesday, July 18th, 2012 at 5:40 pm  |  33 responses

Portland Trailblazers Match Wolves’ Offer for Nicolas Batum


Unlike the New York Knicks and the Jeremy Lin Situation, the Portland Trailblazers’ front-office kept their promise, by matching the contract offer for restricted free agent Nicolas Batum. Reports the Star Tribune: “The Portland Trail Blazers today announced they have matched the $46.5 million offer sheet the Wolves gave restricted free agent Nicolas Batum on Sunday. Batum landed from France at the Portland airport earlier this afternoon and told reporters he’ll undergo a physical examination on Thursday and meet with the local media on Friday. And yes, he said he always expected to be back with the Blazers. And he will be.”

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  • http://redoftoothandclaw.ca/ niQ

    There it is. Maybe next time Nicolas.

  • RunNGun

    If he really wanted out, he should have taken the QO and walked next year. I would have liked to have seen him catching lobs from Rubio but Nic and his agent played it very well. Nic got paid and so does Bouna Ndiaye. However, that contract is pretty awful for a role player on a rebuilding team; what’s worst is that it has a trade kicker (of 15%) which makes the contract tough to trade. In the sarcastic words of Chris Weber, “GOOD LUCK!”

  • logues

    dangit, was really hoping we’d land him

  • http://www.slamonline.com Redd

    LOL nice.

  • http://www.nba.com/knicks danfields

    didnt he want out of portland last season? dont rlly get this blazers move n the nba owners at all. what was all that labor fight good for if they r still throwing money out the window as if it grew on trees?

  • Jake

    Horrible idea for the blazers. They should have let him walk and sign someone like Dudley until they are done rebuilding.

  • Ev

    This offseason has been filled with these enormous contracts for mediocre players. I don’t get it -___-

  • B.C.

    When a team matches an offer like the blazers just did what does that exactly mean? Did they give him a contract offer that is worth more money or what?

  • http://Roosterteeth.com Caboose

    B.C. Restricted free agents sign offer sheets from other teams, which are basically like “contract offers.” Players who finish their rookie contracts become restricted free agents. The original team of the player can then “match” the offer sheet that a different team signed. The offer sheet then becomes the contract for the player and he returns to his original team.

  • don the GSW fan

    why sign a player who clearly wants out?

  • jayrose

    Major burn!

  • RunNGun

    It’s not that he didn’t like PDX; he didn’t like McMillan’s system. Aside from that, PDX offered an extension worth $6M a year during the season but his agent and him clearly wanted more than the “low-ball” offer. This was the perfect way to get paid. In the end, Team Ndiaye/Batum won.

  • http://Slamonline.com nbk

    Man wtf is Portland doing with their team?

  • http://Roosterteeth.com Caboose

    ^Building around Batum. What could possibly go wrong?

  • BV

    Batum’s agent is the one who blew tons of smoke saying that he didn’t like/want to be in Portland and that he wanted a bigger role with Minnesota. Puh-leez, Batum gets serious minutes in Portland, and although inconsistent, is one of their main offensive weapons and definitely one of their top defenders. You expect with Love, Rubio, Roy, Williams, Budinger, and Pekovic that Batum would have a more significant roll than he did with Portland? No way. It was a great move on their part though, as Batum got paid.

  • http://Slamonline Kobesbeastin24

    So I don’t understand the contract offer sheet..when a Minnesota signed him to the offer sheet and blazers matched that offer, does he automatically have to go back to Portland?

  • http://Roosterteeth.com Caboose

    Kobes, read my earlier post, yes, he must return to Portland. The quickest way to get out of a team is to accept a one year “qualifying offer” that is substantially less money, but once it expires after the one year, the player becomes an unrestricted free agent. Good?

  • http://www.nba.com Dacre

    All these young kids . . .

  • http://Roosterteeth.com Caboose

    Be nice Dacre, if they’re willing to learn, I’ve got no problem. I’m only 19 myself.

  • RunNGun

    LOL If they researched the CBA, they’ll start catching on. NBA isn’t all about watching hoops and swapping players like it’s fantasy basketball or nba2k12. People should take the time to delve into the business side of it.

  • http://Roosterteeth.com Caboose

    RnG, I agree wholly. But, if people are willing to learn, I don’t care how they get it. I’ve got no problem teaching a bit.

  • http://redoftoothandclaw.ca niQ

    Props to Caboose for helping them learn some.

  • http://Roosterteeth.com Caboose

    Thanks niQ

  • http://Slamonline Kobesbeastin24

    Appreciate that caboose.

  • http://Slamonline.com nbk

    You know Aldridge and Batum are great complimentary players. They just take up a cool $29M or so combined on the cap. Building around them is like building a meal around spam. You are going to live, but your never going to feel good in the process.

  • http://thetroyblog.com Teddy-the-Bear

    tbh I never cared much for the business side of basketball. I really only learned about this stuff from you guys. Should probably take the time to thank you guys… Maybe later, like in a year, if I have time.

  • http://Slamonline.com nbk

    Lol I will try and fit appreciating that gesture into my obviously hectic schedule

  • Pais

    Unfortunate. Batum is better than mediocre and brimming with untapped potential. He’s boderline badass. Seen him play for France and his skill set was just complete, nothing short of ill. Unfortunately in the big boy league thus far he’s been relegated to role player status. Minnesota would have been a far better scenario for him to showcase his talent. He would have been everything that Beasley should have been. Stuck in Portland, yikes wouldn’t wish that on anyone, now more than ever.

  • jeremys6226

    man was really hoping the T-Wolves would get him. Thought it would be a much better fit for him overall

  • http://www.twitter.com/_dfrance dfrance21

    Man NBK that Spam analogy was top notch! lol. I just don’t like the whole idea of restricted free agency. What is the point? Once a guys deal expires then he should just become a free agent. All its good for is overpaying guys.

  • ponder

    @ RunNGun The trade kicker won’t be as big a deal as advertised as the blazers pay it, not the team trading for him like the old CBA. I think he’ll be tradeable at least as a reclamation project if he flames out in portland. I’m sure a team like Phoenix or San Antonio would roll the dice on him.

  • LA Huey

    Spam is like McDonald’s, once you build a tolerance to it (or if you’re a Pacific Islander), it’s fantastic. Just had some SPAM and rice for lunch yesterday.

  • MirChilly

    Comparing what Batum did in france and what he is doing in the NBA is two totally different things. If that was the case then Juan Carlos Navarro is a NBA All-Star or Dan Dickau was really an underrated talent. Never liked his game and don’t understand the fascination with him. In two years Portland fans will hate him

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