I've heard comparisons to Scottie Pippen before, but don't worry, I'm not blowing that kind of smoke. Yes, they're both lanky forwards who defend multiple positions and play a solid all around game, but Scottie is one of the 15 best players EVER and Batum has done precious little to merit a favorable comparison like that (though it's more appropriate the time Tommy Heinsohn compared Leon Powe to Moses freaking Malone). Still, Batum has a high cieling and plays a similar game to Pippen albeit not nearly as well. The young Frenchman is one of the most valuable types of basketball players, someone who can positively impact the game without needing the ball or plays run for him to do so. Especially in today's world of dribble dominated one-on-one basketball, having a player like Batum is wonderful and necessary for a team to compete at a high level.
Offensively, Batum is emerging as a consistent threat who can both stretch the defense with his outside shot and bang on the interior against bigger bodies. While his jumper isn't as pretty and fluid as some, he's worked very hard on extending his range and is deadly from the corner on either side of the floor. Batum's improvement in his outside shot is what made Travis Outlaw expendable, and given the choice I'd pick the former over the latter any day of the week and twice on Sundays. While Outlaw is perhaps a better one-on-one scorer with his size and athleticism, Nicolas Batum (who is 4 years younger than Outlaw) brings a lot more to the table than Outlaw did for this Portland team.
Aside from reliably hitting the outside jumper, Batum moves well without the ball, crashes the boards at opportune moments and can get into the paint and finish, something that Travis always struggled with. Watching Batum last year and this season, it's been amazing and inspiring to see how much his game has improved and it gets me genuinely excited to see flashes of his full potential like the two games we witnessed from this weekend against Minnesota and Memphis. Against the Timberwolves, Batum slapped up 31/7/7 with 3 steals and took only 16 shots, hitting 11. 31 points set a career high for Nicolas, who then went out and put up 21 on 7-11 shooting against Memphis on Monday. For the season, Batum is shooting 57% from the field, 46% from 3-point territory and 91% from the free-throw line. While his action has been limited this year due to a torn labrum (he missed the entire season up until late January), he has improved significantly from his rookie campaign last year.
And the funny thing is that offense isn't the best part of his game. Where Batum helps the Blazers most is on defense, where he uses his size, quickness and wingspan to cover point guards and power forwards alike. This year, I've seen Batum match up with Tony Parker, Dirk Nowitzki and everyone in between with great results. And although the numbers don't necessarily reflect his exceptional play, consider this anecdote for a second: On Monday night, the Blazers were clinging to a small lead with the game on the line and the ball at half court. Andre Miller was set to inbound the ball, and as Memphis defended the play Miller was forced to throw a dangerous pass to Batum in the backcourt. From nowhere, O.J. Mayo (a player I would love to pluck and put wither on the Celtics or the Blazers) appeared and cleanly stole the pass towards the right corner at the three point line. Wasting no time at all, Mayo wheeled around and turned on the jets, driving towards the Portland basket. Batum was the only Blazer back and had to backpedal to stick with Mayo as he charged towards the rim. Batum stayed right with Mayo, and as the former Trojan elevated to lay the ball in and draw contact, Batum pulled his body away ever so slightly and managed to avoid fouling Mayo. The fact that Batum was able to stick with Mayo while backpedaling and still be in position to contest the shot was amazing enough, and the fact that he did so without fouling was incredible. But the best part of all was that Batum actually blocked the shot, using his incredible length to swallow Mayo whole and save the game. Any other 21 year-old player would have had a mental conniption after being hung out to dry like that, but Batum came up big when it mattered most and sealed the game on the road. It was simply amazing.
There aren't enough advanced stats in basketball that can account for how Batum's freakishly long arms affect opponents, or how many momentum changing blocks/loose balls he comes up with, but we need those to truly appreciate players like Nicolas Batum. This kid is already a heady player with all the athletic gifts you could hope for and is only getting better. If Portland is going anywhere this year, next year or after, Nicolas Batum will be central to their success. He's not a star and doesn't need to be, and that's just what these Blazers need. With Batum healthy, Brandon Roy doesn't have to guard the opponents' best perimeter player, and someone like LaMarcus Aldridge doesn't need to grab more than 2 rebounds a quarter. Batum fits so well with the rest of the Portland players, it's scary to think about what could happen during the rest of this season and next.
The young Frenchman is well on his way to becoming a dangerously complete player, and could potentially be someone who excels at nearly every area of the game. That's the kind of guy I want to help me win a championship, and if Kevin Pritchard, Paul Allen and Nate McMillan know what they're doing (they do), they'll make damn sure that no matter what else happens in the future they make space on the roster and in the salary cap for Nicolas.
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