Batum: Spurs are an option next season
The Portland Trail Blazers' season is over and Nicolas Batum is trying to figure out where he will play 
next. He is a restricted free agent this summer and it had been reported San Antonio is interested in his services.
In an interview with French site Basket Session, Batum affirmed his desire to join the Spurs next season but also stated he will look at other teams as well as a possible destination should he not return to the Blazers.
"San Antonio is an option for me. There are 30 teams in the NBA so I'll all watch and see what can be the best. But San Antonio is clear that it could be something pretty. I do not want to leave Portland, but I'll watch what is best for me.
If I can not find better elsewhere, I'll stay in Portland but if I find better elsewhere, I would go. The market will open on July 1, so I really have time to take my time to watch all this. I have ten teams in mind, but I see it"
Should the Spurs add Batum to the roster next season, and resign Boris Diaw, the Spurs could have three of the top French players in the NBA playing alongside Tony Parker. Furthermore, Parker, Diaw and Batum will be joining forces this summer at the London Olympics and who knows if TP will try to convince Batum to join San Antonio.
However, there is the financial side of all this. Diaw, Danny Green, James Anderson and Gary Neal are free agents after the season, and Tim Duncan has yet to be resigned. The Spurs hold the option on DeJuan Blair and Patty Mills hold a player's option. Also, Batum will be looking for a long-term contract.
What do you have to say Spurs fans? Should the Spurs gamble and try to bring in Batum and sacrifice some players currently on the roster?
1 Like
to early to talk about player movement, but he would be a good fit, as he showed what he can do when he played for the blazers and the french basketball team.
1 Like
Come on guys! Really??? Middle of playoffs and talking about fantasy trades? Batum is gonna get a near max deal, end of chat.... Sure I would like to have Bautm, but why not shoot for Howard or HIbbert? If you are going to fantasize at least pick a position where we have a need...
I don't think getting Batum is too far fetched, and he would fit our system very well and have instant chemistry with Diaw and Parker.
Neal/Blair/Bonner: I don't know when this happened to me, honestly, I was a staunch advocate of trading the often-labeled "defenseless" Bonner - but he is good at what he does and provides a valuable service at a great price. You guys can say his defensive numbers are just skewed and whatever... but I disagree. I genuinely saw a difference in his defense this year.
With all that said, I wouldn't mind seeing Batum here if it meant losing Blair and/or Neal. Actually, Batum can effectively play both of their positions very well (assuming Neal is playing his true position of a 2guard).
I may of just realized why Pop has been so adamant about Neal's switch to the PG spot despite the emergence of Patty Mills.
He's too small for the 2 spot. Defensively he has no chance to compete (minute wise) with his fellow 2 guard teammates (Green, Manu).
Sure, he can score the ball. But it seems now like he is just one of many guys on our team that can shoot threes and penetrate in the lane effectively (Kawhi, Green, Jack, Manu, Tony)
Batum 2012!
(De Colo coming soon)
ok i know we have been over this, and i know another spurs site has posted 2-3-4 articles about the spurs cap room. expect tim to sign for about 20-30 mil for 2-3 seasons. diaw and green will likely split the midlevel exception plus a mil or 2. mills has a player option for next season which im sure he takes. neal is likely to get a 7 mil on 3 years. that puts the spurs at 70 mil right there. the tax line/cap are expected to be ABOUT the same as this season so that leaves the spurs about 3-4 mil to sign a free agent. we would still be at 13 players so we would not HAVE to sign anyone to meet league minimum roster. if lorbek is likely to actually come over then we are at 14 and right at the tax line.
bottom line, it would take a sign and trade to get batum, and i dont think the spurs have the players to trade nor do we NEED batum. he would either be mad to come off the bench behind leonard or he would start thus slowing leonards growth.
i say lets move on past batum as its just not happening. this is just one of those "the spurs are playing very well and look to be on their way to the finals so lets jump on the band wagon" type situations, but it has no real merit or foundation in anything.
@JohnAbney Agreed, there's really no spot on the roster for Batum, even if we trade/lose Neal, Bonner, Blair, Anderson, Joseph(only expendable players in my opinion) We gave up Hill for Leonard and leonards development will garentee him a spot, and Capn Jack is here to stay, how would we even get him in the rotation? Plus we still have to consider that we have guys like De Colo, Richards, Lorbek and Bertans on the back burner. We need a big, not as bad as we used to but how about targeting Hibbert? Him and timmy are off season workout buddies and he hasn't resigned with the pacers yet, Heck i would love nothing more than a sign and trade for Blair, Bonner, and Neal(Don't get me wrong I love neal just don't see where he fits in future plans).
1 Like
Keep the roster they have now. Resign Boris Diaw, Danny Green & Gary Neal. Timmy could take a less pay when he resigns after this season and have Spurs sign more players to make another run. Definitely bring back DeJuan Blair & Patty Mills. Send Corey Joseph back to the D-League. Let go of James Anderson. Roster should fit in Nicolas Batum as next season comes around.
1 Like
Yeah, as much as I would love to see Batum with the Spurs, I would hope the Spurs would focus more on trying to get Hibbert (considering he likes working on his game with Duncan).
the only way to get Hibbertis if Duncan retires and the Spurs would still have to make an offer the Pacers had no chance of matching
I don't think we are gonna get Hibbert anyway but between signing offer sheets for Batum and Hibbert, I would rather see the Spurs push for Hibbert more than Batum. That's all I'm saying.
@Emicris there will be no money left for really any free agent if Timmy, Daiw, Green, & Neal are resigned plus if Mills decides to come back
2 Like
I say forget Batum, resign Timmy, Green, & Neal. Mills will probably exercise his option bringing up Dawson would be a good idea too
Spurs will be really lucky after resigning Duncan to resign Green and Diaw and one of the Euro Bigs (Lorbek/Richards). Mills will probably get more somewhere else, but if not then we have his and Blair's... No way Batum takes that type of pay cut.....
Second reason: They have a glut at the 1, 2, and 3 positions already, there are not enough minutes to go around. They have 7 legitimate starters for those 3 positions. That's not even including the talent waiting in the wings like Joseph (who is playing great), De Colo (who is also playing great), Bertrans/Hanga (still another year away). Spurs usually develop from within or get players for cheap, don't see that changing now.
1 Like
I say keep Diaw & green if possible. But I would rather they be aggressive signing hibbert instead of batum. It seems obvious we are not keeping Anderson, and if we can get hibbert we could cut dujuan just cuz of his height issues. I like Blair, but he becomes expendable with hibbert. Duncan should still get a decent salary, but not as much as he's getting now, so that should free up some $ to sign hibbert.
@Joey yeah, but I don't think there is a hole that needs to be filled by batum. We need a lock down big dude. Blairs height becomes an issue and is totally ineffective against big teams and rides the bench. Batum would be cool, but I don't see a need for his services.
@spursfan80 Splitter and Diaw have been doing pretty good. Batum is too expensive. Hibbert is a crack pipe dream. Duncan is still good defensively. Lorbek might be coming in soon.
If I were the coaching staff of the spurs I would stick to Danny Green, instead of taking a chance at batum for resons of econmy and familiarity. Green will command a lower price compared to batum and the fact that Greeen is very comfortable with the system pit in by the coaching staff. Time and again the spurs have been seeking to get a big guy. That is theri priority right now. They should be looking for a trade partner or look at the free agency.Let batum stay with the blazers and instead trade some of its assets like blair, bonner, anderson and joseph. Kaman, Okafor and Humphries I think will be free agents at the end of the season. Why don't the spurs try to draft in the 1st round with teams that have miltiple 1st round drafts like the jazz, blazers, rockets, nets or the hornets?
I agree the Spurs need a Big, not Batum, he is too expensive. If Bonner does not make the shots he should make in the second round of the playoffs, they need to trade him. While I've never seen Richards or Lorebeck play, I like Kaman, Okafor and Humphries. The Spurs will need someone who can score and rebound.
Having said that, I didn't think they would end up with diaw and Jax, so anything is possible. They certainly seem to be making Tony comfortable.
3 Like
Doesn't add up from a financial standpoint. This feels like posturing from a player looking to resign with portlamnd and drive up his price. It all depends on what type of discount Tim gives the team, which I feel will be reasonable and realistic.
