Portland Trail Blazers rumors: Nicolas Batum could be the key to improvement
The Portland Trail Blazers had a fantastic season last year, defeating the Houston Rockets in the first round of the postseason before bowing out to the world champion San Antonio Spurs a round later. One reason the Blazers played so well was their supporting cast. Perhaps no member of that supporting cast is more valuable than swingman Nicolas Batum.
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Jesse Blancarte of Basketball Insiders believes Batum’s continued development could be the key to the Blazers’ improvement.
"At age 25, Batum still has room to improve his game and take another step in his development. He is one of the most versatile players in the league, but he would really turn heads if he can get his scoring average up. However, on a high-scoring Portland team, it’s not really necessary for him to do so. But for Batum, a bump in nightly scoring to somewhere near 17 points a game would put more attention on his all-around impact on the game, and earn him the recognition he already deserves.Batum has improved his production each season and projects to continue that upward trend with the up-and-coming Blazers this upcoming season."
With the Blazers having to re-sign their stars, point guard Damian Lillard and power forward LaMarcus Aldridge, in the near future (Aldridge will be a free agent after the 2014-2015 season), they’ll need their younger players like Batum to take their game to another level.
Last season, Batum averaged 13.0 points, 7.5 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 0.9 steals per game while shooting 46.5% from the field, 36.1% from beyond the arc and 80.3% from the free throw line. In the postseason, he went for 15.2 points, 7.6 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 1.4 steals per game while shooting 47.2% from the floor, 35.0% from downtown and 80.0% from the charity stripe. Over the course of his six-year career, the 25th-overall pick of the 2008 NBA Draft, has gone for 11.5 points, 4.9 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 0.9 steals per game while shooting 45.3% from the field, 36.9% from three and 83.1% from the foul line.
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