Nets Should Not Go All-In On Nic Batum
By Brian Rzeppa
With a lack of draft picks that would enable them to build through young, cheap talent, the Brooklyn Nets are going to be forced to build their team through free agency if they want to be competitive in the near future.
The salary cap is set to explode, which will lead to teams having absurd amounts of money to spend once free agency opens up in the summer. While money will be flowing freely, top level talent is not something that’s going to be quite as available.
While players like Kevin Durant and LeBron James have the ability to opt out of their current deals, the more likely top players on the open, unrestricted market will be names like DeMar DeRozan and Al Horford. With a lack of true top-tier talent and an excess of money available, it’s likely that some players will be gifted contracts that they won’t be able to live up to.
The Nets will reportedly have around $41 million free to play with throughout the summer, good for 8th in the NBA, which will provide new General Manager Sean Marks with some flexibility as he prepares for his first offseason in complete control of an NBA franchise.
One of the names that has stood out amongst the Nets fanbase over the course of the past few months has been Charlotte Hornets guard/forward Nic Batum, whose versatility and purported outside-shooting ability makes him an attractive candidate for the team’s system.
In theory a player like Batum that can do quite a few things well would be a good fit, but when put under scrutiny he’s not a player that holds up as someone that will be worth the amount of money that he will be paid this offseason and with the Nets draft pick situation the way that it stands, that potential contract could be even more crippling.
Many analysts are predicting that Batum will be on the receiving end of a max contract following a year in Charlotte in which he has posted a career-high in points per game while playing a major role in leading the team to an unexpected playoff berth.
Despite his scoring numbers, Batum has some holes in his game that cannot be overlooked, especially if the Nets are considering doling out a max contract to acquire him. His 15.3 points per game is certainly nothing to scoff at as it would be enough to place second on the Nets, but his efficiency is near the bottom in regards to his career.
Shooting 42.7% from the field and 35.3% from deep, a portion of Batum’s increased points per game numbers can be attributed to the volume that he has been able to shoot at, as well as the increased workload now that he’s in an offense that doesn’t feature LaMarcus Aldridge or Damian Lillard.
Those numbers are included in a formula that places his True Shooting Percentage 28th amongst qualifying shooting guards, behind the Nets own Bojan Bogdanovic. In comparison to small forwards, his ranking would only slightly improve as he ranks 26th amongst that position.
His shooting ability is concerning and it has only continued to fall off in recent years. Even on a month-to-month basis, his numbers have failed to show any sort of consistency. He has had highs like shooting 46.8% from the field over sixteen games last month, but he also goes into slumps like he did over nine games in January, where he hit just 31.9% of his shots.
Shooting is not the only concern on the offensive end for him, unfortunately. While Kemba Walker manages most of the ball-handling responsibilities for the Hornets, Batum has still been very prone to turning the ball over. He stands third amongst shooting guards (fourth amongst small forwards) in turnovers per game and can often impede the offense with his carelessness with the ball.
Defensively Batum is a bit more consistent, but he’s not the top-level defender that he was at one point for the Trail Blazers. He’s definitely not a liability on that end by any means, but he’s not someone that can consistently shut down top opposing perimeter players, as evidenced by his opponent field goal percentage that falls right in line with league average.
The ability to play multiple positions and score with somewhat regularity could make him an appealing option, but there are just too many red flags regarding Nic Batum’s game to warrant a max contract from the Brooklyn Nets this offseason.