Tag: Nic Batum

Nic Batum reveals he had 17 options before leaving Sixers for Clippers

Nic Batum reveals he had 17 options in free agency as he left the Philadelphia 76ers for the Los Angeles Clippers.

The Philadelphia 76ers have had a busy offseason as they have brought in big names such as Paul George, Andre Drummond, and Eric Gordon while also keeping Tyrese Maxey around long-term.

They also lost some key pieces such as Buddy Hield, Tobias Harris, and Nic Batum.

Batum returned to the Los Angeles Clippers in free agency on a deal. The Sixers acquired the veteran from the Clippers in the James Harden blockbuster back in October and Batum played a key role for Philadelphia as a floor spacer, a defender, and a guy who can do a lot of different things on the floor.

In an interview with BasketNews, Batum revealed he had a lot of options (h/t HoopsHype):

It’s a return, indeed! I had several options, a lot of options—17, to be exact! It’s a good thing. I’ll be reuniting with Ty Lue, in a project I really like. It’s a good thing.

Batum was a great locker room guy for the Sixers and it will be tough to replace his presence in the locker room. However, one can’t complain when they were able to get George out of the free agency frenzy.

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Nic Batum to leave Sixers, rejoin Clippers on 2-year $9.6 million deal

Nic Batum will leave the Philadelphia 76ers in free agency to rejoin the Los Angeles Clippers.

The Philadelphia 76ers made a big trade back in October when they sent James Harden to the Los Angeles Clippers in a deal that brought back the expiring contracts of Nic Batum, Robert Covington, Marcus Morris Sr., KJ Martin, and a slew of picks.

The Sixers were able to turn the cap space they created into Paul George as they brought him in to try and help Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey get over the hump in the East. In the process, Philadelphia lost a couple of its own free agents.

Batum, who was a key piece of the Sixers after the trade, will head back to the Clippers on a 2-year $9.6 million deal. The veteran forward will head back to the West Coast after averaging 5.5 points and 4.2 rebounds while shooting 39.9% from deep in 57 games with the Sixers.

Batum had to head back to Los Angeles a few times after the trade due to a personal matter. Now that he’s back with the Clippers in LA, one has to believe that he will be in a better space to help his family.

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Report: Nic Batum will not return to Sixers in free agency frenzy

Nic Batum will reportedly not return to the Philadelphia 76ers in the free agency frenzy.

The Philadelphia 76ers have a lot of decisions that have to be made as they enter an important free agency period. President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey has done a great job of creating a ton of cap space to a third star to the roster.

While the Sixers are focusing on the possibility of adding Paul George to the roster, that means their own free agents could slip away.

Nic Batum, who the Sixers acquired from the Los Angeles Clippers in the James Harden trade, appears set to leave the Sixers in the free agency frenzy. He played 57 games for Philadelphia, starting 38, and averaging 5.5 points and 4.2 rebounds while shooting 39.9% from deep.

It will be interesting to see where Batum lands. He is still a very productive wing player who can give any team in the league a boost with his basketball IQ and 3-point shooting. He was terrific in Philadelphia’s play-in tournament win over the Miami Heat when he scored 20 points to give the Sixers a spark.

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Paul George gives thoughts on losing Nic Batum, others to Sixers

Los Angeles Clippers star Paul George gives his thoughts on losing Nic Batum and other key role players to the Philadelphia 76ers.

The Philadelphia 76ers and the Los Angeles Clippers hooked up for a big blockbuster trade early in the 2023-24 season. After a long summer of James Harden to the Clippers rumors, both teams were able to agree to a deal that sent Harden to LA in a deal that netted Philadelphia some key players.

The key piece in the deal was the cap space that the Sixers created as well as acquiring draft capital so they could make bigger moves, but Philadelphia also brought in Nic Batum, Robert Covington, Marcus Morris Sr. (now with the Cleveland Cavaliers), and KJ Martin who all played a role. Batum, especially, was helpful and Covington was playing well before his injury.

Clippers star Paul George hopped on “Podcast P with Paul George” and gave his thoughts on losing Batum and the other key role players to the Sixers:

We started the year off hot. Everybody was playing well. There was the energy there. It was kinda like the first time of us all being healthy with Russ now. It was the emergence of what it’s like being with Russ now, with myself healthy, Kawhi healthy, and Russ full-time here. It was kind of like a fresh start of what we thought could work. Then we traded to get James, and it’s not James’ fault of why we struggled, but the lost part of that was we lost RoCo, we lost Nico. This was our glue guys. That was our defenders, and we played small. So they had the length that helped us play small.

Batum and Covington will enter free agency so it will be interesting to see if the Sixers bring them back in the offseason.

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Sixers forward Nic Batum pays tribute to the late, great Jerry West

Philadelphia 76ers forward Nic Batum pays tribute to the late, great Jerry West and thanking him for everything.

The NBA world received some terrible news on Wednesday morning when the Los Angeles Clippers announced the passing of Jerry West at 86 years old. West’s likeness is the NBA logo and the impact he had on the game of basketball is undeniable.

A Hall of Famer, West was a 14-time All-Star, an NBA champion in 1972, and was named MVP of the 1969 finals. He was also a member of the NBA’s 75th anniversary team and was an executive for the Clippers in recent seasons.

Philadelphia 76ers forward Nic Batum, who played 207 games for the Clippers across four seasons, took to Twitter to pay tribute to West. He thanked him for the conversations and the wisdom he passed on to him while also offering up prayers to the West family.

The NBA family will always remember West and will continue to be honored for the great man he was. The impact he had in the league will never be forgotten.

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Sixers’ Nic Batum back in the gym working out with Jalen McDaniels

Philadelphia 76ers forward Nic Batum is back in the gym working out with Toronto Raptors forward Jalen McDaniels.

The offseason is a time to both relax and begin preparations for the next season for players around the NBA. Some will get their relaxation in early and then get back in the gym while others will have a mixture of both.

Philadelphia 76ers forward Nic Batum–who will enter free agency in the offseason–is back in the gym with former Sixers forward Jalen McDaniels and his trainer, Clint Parks.

Parks posted a picture on his Instagram story of Batum and McDaniels putting work talking about 3-point shooting. The veteran out of France continues to work on his game despite being in the league now for 16 years.

Batum shot 39.9% from deep in 57 games with the Sixers including 38 starts. He was a key piece to their success and one has to assume that Philadelphia will bring him back in order to help space the floor for Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey to flow on the offensive end.

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Sixers expected to bring back Kelly Oubre Jr., Nic Batum, Kyle Lowry

The Philadelphia 76ers are expected to bring back Kelly Oubre Jr., Nic Batum, and Kyle Lowry in free agency.

The Philadelphia 76ers have set themselves up very nicely in the 2024 offseason. They have a ton of cap space thanks to the moves made by President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey and they will be major players in free agency and in trades.

The goal is to bring in another star next to Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey in order to take that next step in the Eastern Conference and overtake the Boston Celtics in the East.

With that being said, the Sixers do still need to fill out the rest of the roster. Philadelphia has a number of solid free agents that should be brought back and per Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer, they are focusing on three major ones:

Based on those constraints, a source said Nico Batum, Kelly Oubre Jr., and Kyle Lowry are the free agents the team most likely would like to re-sign. Not only do they mesh well with All-Stars Maxey and Joel Embiid, they might not command a lot of money in the free-agent market.

Oubre was a consistent player on a regular basis for Philadelphia averaging 15.4 points and 5.0 rebounds per game while playing on the veteran’s minimum. The Sixers certainly were appreciative of his athleticism and ability to produce on both ends of the floor.

Batum was acquired from the Los Angeles Clippers in the James Harden trade and shot 39.9% from deep in 57 games with 38 starts. He ended up shooting 40.9% from deep in the playoffs and has great chemistry with Embiid. The Sixers should certainly bring him back.

As for Lowry, he will be 39 when the playoffs start in 2025. He did produce for Philadelphia averaging 8.0 points and 4.6 assists in 23 games with 20 starts after being picked up in the buyout market. Assuming he does return, he should take on a lesser role for the Sixers.

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Sixers veteran Nic Batum opens up on challenges of the season

Philadelphia 76ers veteran forward Nic Batum opens up on how challenging the 2023-24 season was for him.

PHILADELPHIA — The 2023-24 season was a challenge for Philadelphia 76ers veteran Nic Batum. The 16-year forward was acquired from the Los Angeles Clippers in October in the James Harden deal, and he had to deal with a great deal on and off the court.

On the court, he had to adjust to a new system and a new set of teammates after so much time with the Clippers. Off the court, there were family matters back in LA he had to attend to.

“Top two?” Batum laughed when asked how challenging the season in his career. “That’s my first time I’ve gotten traded during the season. It’s not easy with a family, too. When I got here, people were great. My teammates were amazing. The coaching staff, the fans, the city were amazing. It was fun. I had a lot of fun this year. One thing I’ve learned is Philly is not for everybody, though. You’ve got to be ready to play for that city, and I loved it. It was fun.”

Along with trying to adjust and get settled in with the Sixers and how coach Nick Nurse likes to run the team, Batum dealt with injuries. Of course, there was the big Joel Embiid injury, and that was a huge challenge in its own right.

“In the first three months, it was great,” Batum reflected. “Joel, that was amazing what he was doing. Then he went down and the next two months after, we tried to survive and we did. Then he came back — and we traded for some new players. Like I said, we’ve been through a lot. We went to the play-in and found a way to get in, and this series was insane. Congrats to them, they played great. (Jalen) Brunson is amazing. Every game — we could’ve swept them, they could’ve swept us. Yeah, that was a crazy year for sure.”

At the end of the day, the point differential between the teams in this series was one point. The New York Knicks were a plus-one in this series. That’s as close a series as one will ever see.

“It’s been a great season,” Batum ended. “It was a tough loss. Of course we wanted to keep playing. It was a good fight. Congrats to the Knicks, they played great. It was a great series. We had fun and I think people had fun watching it, so now it’s just sad that it’s done.”

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Nic Batum expresses pride in detail Sixers played with in win over Knicks

Nic Batum expressed pride in the little details the Philadelphia 76ers executed in order to defeat the New York Knicks in Game 5.

NEW YORK — Before the Philadelphia 76ers took on the New York Knicks in Tuesday’s Game 5 elimination game, Nic Batum spoke at shootaround that morning. He asked a question to the Sixers that has been a theme in recent years: who’s going to be the tougher team?

Through the first four games of this series, the answer to that question was the Knicks. It was New York that was getting after every loose ball and coming up with the big plays in order to walk away with wins.

In Game 5, it was the Sixers. With the season on the line, Philadelphia was down six with 28.2 seconds left before Tyrese Maxey saved the season with a Herculean performance on the road. Joel Embiid then made a ton of big defensive plays in overtime which led to a 112-106 win in overtime.

“Like I said, just detail,” said Batum. “You ask me what can we do in practice to fix it? Nothing. Nothing you can drill or nothing you can do in practice. It’s just who wants it more? And fighting. We did it tonight. Especially, the last 28 seconds when you’re down six. They did it to us a couple days ago and we found a way to do it today and we did it.”

Obviously, Maxey and Embiid came alive and helped Philadelphia get the job done. However, it was the little things that helped the Sixers get the job done. Batum made some big defensive plays and others stepped up as well to get the job done.

“Tyrese makes two big shots and the free throws,” Batum added. “He was huge and then we get some stops. In the overtime, down five again. Crowd was into it. We didn’t give up. We stayed cool, relaxed, get some stops. Make big plays, Joel was great playmaking and his presence inside. Tobias (Harris) was great getting inside and getting rebounds and KO (Kelly Oubre Jr.) as well. It was a good team win.”

The Sixers will have to do it again in Game 6 on Thursday.

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Nic Batum has a question for the Sixers entering Game 5 vs. Knicks

Nic Batum has a question for the Philadelphia 76ers as they head into Game 5 against the New York Knicks.

NEW YORK — When the Philadelphia 76ers pay a visit to the New York Knicks for Game 5 of this Round 1 series on Tuesday, they will be facing elimination. The Sixers have had their issues in this series when it comes to rebounding as the Knicks have been the tougher team in key moments.

Game 5 is going to be a big challenge for Philadelphia. It will not be easy to go into a raucous environment such as Madison Square Garden and keep the season alive. The Sixers will have to show toughness and that is something Nic Batum is asking about his team heading into this elimination game.

“This series has been, like, the details and that’s it,” Batum said at shootaround on Tuesday. “Just the little stuff. The X and O’s strategy, like I said, it’s nothing too crazy to change about basketball. Like, pure basketball. It’s just 50/50, get back on defense, and who’s the tougher team? That’s gonna be pretty much it tonight.”

The point differential in this series so far has been Knicks plus-4. That’s how close all four games have been. It has come down to the little things in these games and which team is going to make those plays and show off their toughness.

“We have to win,” Batum added. “It’s like when we played Miami (in the play-in tournament). It’s kinda, like, Game 7 for us now. We know what we have to do win against this team. We just have to do it. We have done it for three games and, I said it last time, every game could have gone either way. It’s been that close every game.”

The Knicks will want to close out the Sixers out on Tuesday and Philadelphia knows it. Toughness will play a factor to keep the season alive.

“It’s gonna be crazy tonight,” Batum added. “They want to close it out tonight on their home floor so it’s gonna be a crazy fight. Crowd’s gonna be into it. We can use it to our advantage as well so just stick together, be together, and put up a big fight and see what happens.”

Tip off from Madison Square Garden is set for 7 p.m. EDT.

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