Owner Real Deal Posted July 5, 2012 Owner Report Share Posted July 5, 2012 Nic Batum does not want to return to the Portland Trail Blazers "under any circumstances for a variety of reasons," according to an NBA source close to the situation. Batum, a free agent who visited the Minnesota Timberwolves this week, is said to have told the Blazers Tuesday that he does not want to return to the team. Minnesota has reportedly offered Batum $45 million over four seasons as a free agent but is said to be willing to negotiate a sign-and-trade deal with the Trail Blazers for a package that might include players and future draft choices. Batum's agent tried to negotiate a contract extension during the season but believes the team low-balled him with an offer estimated around $6 million. "Batum never wants to play in Portland again," the source said. "And has determined that Minnesota is the best for him and his family." Apparently Batum has a relationship with Wolves point guard Rickey Rubio and while in Minnesota this week developed a relationship with the team's coach, Rick Adelman.http://www.csnnw.com/pages/landingdwight?Source-says-Nic-Batum-wants-no-part-of-t=1&blockID=735074&feedID=8351 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DunkinDerozan Posted July 5, 2012 Report Share Posted July 5, 2012 Would have liked to see the Raptors take a shot at signing him, but I know he most likely wouldn't have. Minnesota should be a good fit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blazed49 Posted July 5, 2012 Report Share Posted July 5, 2012 Good now we can use the money elsewhere or just keep the space. I was gonna have a hard time with the blazers paying him 10+ nil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warren2ThaG Posted July 5, 2012 Report Share Posted July 5, 2012 that sux Matthews moves to SF then starting.whoz starting pg/sg? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Built Ford Tough Posted July 5, 2012 Report Share Posted July 5, 2012 Would have liked to see the Raptors take a shot at signing him, but I know he most likely wouldn't have. Minnesota should be a good fit. Fat chance of that happening. Batum said he would never sign with Toronto because he felt the Raptors doctors screwed him over during his draft year when they reported that he may have a heart condition and red flagged him, causing teams that were rumored to be very interested in him passing on him and having him fall to 25 when he was speculated to be drafted in the 15-20 range. Even then, I like Batum, but paying him $10M a year would be awful. Not as bad as paying Fields $20M over 3 years, but still pretty awful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DunkinDerozan Posted July 5, 2012 Report Share Posted July 5, 2012 Fat chance of that happening. Batum said he would never sign with Toronto because he felt the Raptors doctors screwed him over during his draft year when they reported that he may have a heart condition and red flagged him, causing teams that were rumored to be very interested in him passing on him and having him fall to 25 when he was speculated to be drafted in the 15-20 range. Even then, I like Batum, but paying him $10M a year would be awful. Not as bad as paying Fields $20M over 3 years, but still pretty awful. Yeah I knew it probably wouldn't happen. I didn't know he disliked the Raptors that much though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Regime Posted July 5, 2012 Report Share Posted July 5, 2012 It's a shame because he was hands down the second best player on the team. Batum reminds me alot of Trevor Ariza, in the right system he can be productive. And just like Ariza some team is going to end up overpaying for him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warren2ThaG Posted July 6, 2012 Report Share Posted July 6, 2012 Portland matches Minny, owned Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Feelgood Posted July 6, 2012 Report Share Posted July 6, 2012 Well, regardless of him wanting to play in Minny, he's not going to. Portland has expressed that they're going to match any offer any team throws at him, and that they WILL NOT facilitate a sign and trade for him. They're going to make sure he knows that Portland is the right place for him, according to Neil Olshey. Neil Olshey has vowed to match all offers to Nicolas Batum. "We appreciated the face-to-face meeting to get our message across," Olshey said after speaking with Batum on Thursday. "And that message was that we intend to match any offer and we will not facilitate any sign-and-trade scenarios." Minnesota reportedly was considering a four-year offer to Batum worth $50 million. "We told Nic that it is in his best interests to sign with us," Olshey said. Read more: http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/222099/Blazers_Vow_To_Match_All_Offers_To_Batum#ixzz1zoTYqHUn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Regime Posted July 19, 2012 Report Share Posted July 19, 2012 He's not going anywhere. Joe Freeman @BlazerFreemanDrama finally ends. #Blazers officially have matched Minnesota's offer sheet for Nicolas Batum. He will remain a Blazer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owner Real Deal Posted July 19, 2012 Author Owner Report Share Posted July 19, 2012 Pretty sure he's pissed...probably the same feeling Eric Gordon has right about now, because he was headed out of NO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flight Posted July 19, 2012 Report Share Posted July 19, 2012 As a Blazer fan, I'm glad we got Batum back but: 1) I don't care how promising he is, how good of a defender, athlete, and shooter he is, that's too much money for where he's at in his career. 45 mil for 4 years? He's making a little less than LaMarcus. I think Portland ended up spending that on him because, well, we couldn't lure anyone in to Portland so the money had to be spent somewhere. Retaining your second best player is important, but geeze. 2) He obviously isn't happy with the situation. I love Batum, but if his attitude sucks we need to trade him for some value and move on. We're rebuilding 100% and you can't rebuild effectively if people don't buy in to the plan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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