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Jul 02

Haynes: Batum To Meet With Trail Blazers

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By caseyholdahl Posted in: freeagency, NicolasBatum

Chris B. Haynes of Comcast SportsNet Northwest is reporting Nicolas Batum will meet with the Trail Blazers before making his decision on signing an offer sheet from another team:

As a courtesy, Batum wants to hear the Trail Blazers' pitch before he proceeds to gauge the interest level of other teams, the same source says.

Batum just came off of a visit with the Minnesota Timberwolves in which he met with owner Glen Taylor, general manager David Kahn, and head coach Rick Adelman. The source says, “talks went great.”

Haynes notes the Hornets and Raptors are likely to have meetings with Batum, who is a restricted free agent.

This would appear to be a slight change of course, inasmuch as Batum's agent had previously noted they would "look at the other 29 teams before we talk to the Blazers." Either way, seems like a wise move for all parties involved.

Previous Story: Ford: Pacers 'On The Fence' With Regard To Matching Portland's Reported Offer

Next Story: Wells: 'My personal feeling is I think Roy (Hibbert) will be in Portland next season'

13 Comments

Sounds like someone didn't get the $12 million they were looking for. If he's $10 mil I say sign him, but any more than that and it really isn't worth it. I'm just hoping we get Hibbert signed & Indy doesn't match. If that happens then I think we have to re-sign Nic.

by Richard Ackerman on 7/2/2012 3:15 PM
Casey; I am glad that Batum is at least talking to the Blazers before making the decision. Portland has maintained that the time was of the most importance to them in signing FA and UFA and trades before signing Batum. If Batum is really interested in staying a Blazer, a one day delay wouldn't be that bad for him.
Plus regardless of all the pros and cons, I just like him as a Blazer.

by Hg on 7/2/2012 3:58 PM
I know this is part of the negotiation process. Nic is trying to get the Blazers to up their offer.

by Blazer rod on 7/2/2012 4:23 PM
I love Batum staying in Portland, and I really don't want to see him any jersey other than one that says either the words "Blazers," "Portland," or "Rip City."

by basketball1367 on 7/2/2012 4:33 PM
When it comes to restricted free agency, there really is no negotiations with the team currently holding rights (in this case, Portland). If a team offers X amount and the other team matches, that's what the player gets.

by caseyholdahl on 7/2/2012 4:39 PM
Casey: Batum can take the offer and all it's details to Portland without signing it and Portland can make their own deal for 5 years at the time they have all the other business off the table. then Batum could get a better deal from Portland with bigger % annual raises for five years, and only use the offer as a guide sheet.
Then we can sign all our new players and put Batum's amount over cap hold over the salary cap.

by Hg on 7/2/2012 5:10 PM
I couldn't agree with you more, basketball1367. Plus, do you have any idea how hard it's gonna be seeing B-Roy in another jersey? However, as long as that jersey doesn't say "Lakers", "Los Angeles", or "Clippers" on it, I will still support him.

by newellbrian on 7/2/2012 5:19 PM
Great update! Thank you Casey!

by pdxpar5 on 7/2/2012 8:29 PM
Looks like Chris updated his report to include that Batum is canceling all other team visits and will decide on either the Blazers or Wolves. Interesting!

by pdxpar5 on 7/2/2012 8:32 PM
how far can the blazers go over the cap when giving offers to hibbert and resign nic? what is the limit, when getting penalized by the luxary tax?

by mikemeyer91 on 7/3/2012 2:10 AM
The luxury tax for 2010-11 was somewhere around $70 million. it doesn't seem like the luxury cap is in play here.

by caseyholdahl on 7/3/2012 7:47 AM
I think it comes down to 5 years vs 4 years. Can't blame Nic for wanting to consider playing for Adelman...he's a great coach and the Wolves owned the Blazers last season. This is when not having a coach hurts us. The Hibbert offer may swing Nic towards Portland though. Olshey will have a chance to charm him as he hasn't been allowed to talk to him since he came onboard. Let's hope Nic stays loyal.

by riverman on 7/5/2012 8:02 AM
Nic has reached a verbal agreement with Wolves, Olshey says Blazers will match any offer and will not consider trading Batum. Yet it was reported by the Associated Press that Batum wants Blazers to let him got to Minny. : (

by special k on 7/5/2012 7:47 PM