NBA

NBA AM: Batum Thought Blazers Had More Time

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Batum Thought Blazers Had More Time

Like Marlon Brandoโ€™s character Terry Malloy in โ€œOn the Waterfont,โ€ the Portland Trail Blazers couldโ€™a been a contender, but all it took was one linchpin player choosing to bolt for greener pastures for everything to fall apart. Of last yearโ€™s five regular starters, only Damian Lillard now remains, while LaMarcus Aldridge, Wes Matthews, Robin Lopez and Nicolas Batum are having varying degrees of success at new addresses.

Batum, a quarter of the way through his first season with the Charlotte Hornets, has settled onto his new team and into his new role there, but even he admits that the way everything fell apart so quickly with such a promising roster was pretty shocking for the players involved.

โ€œIt was surprising because we were still so young,โ€ Batum told Basketball Insiders. โ€œItโ€™s not like we were some old team with guys that needed to start over again somewhere fresh. Iโ€™m 26 years old. Dame is 25. Wes is only 29. [LaMarcus] just turned 30, and Robin Lopez just turned 27. We were still young. I thought we had another run.โ€

They did not, however, as the Blazers shipped off every major piece on the roster older than Lillard, replacing them with guys more on Lillardโ€™s career arc in an attempt to remain reasonably competitive without having to completely rebuild.

Still, everything turned when Aldridge made his decision to join the San Antonio Spurs, which Batum isnโ€™t even remotely upset about.

โ€œI understand his choice,โ€ Batum said. โ€œHe had done a lot of things for the Portland franchise, but to get a chance with the Spurs to win a ring right away? I think a lot of people would have done the exact same thing.

โ€œHe wanted to go to another place to win a championship, and I respect that. Iโ€™m not mad about it, but I was surprised. It was a good run, and it was fun, but itโ€™s time to move on.โ€

Interestingly, Batum feels as if his new team in Charlotte is developing into a group with the same sort of promise that Portland once exhibited, even if they are still a year or two away. He sees a lot of similarities between Lillard and Kemba Walker, for example.

โ€œTheyโ€™re not really different,โ€ Batum said of Lillard and Walker. โ€œOne thing thatโ€™s similar is that both guys want to win no matter what. Dame wanted to win and showed that he could do anything to win a game, and Kemba has shown that so far too. Heโ€™s gotten better, so much better than last year. I knew he was good, but heโ€™s so much better. Heโ€™s more patient, making better decisions. Heโ€™s just more mature.โ€

Most importantly, though, is that what happened with the Blazers, where everything fell apart at the peak of so many core playersโ€™ careers, isnโ€™t likely to happen in Charlotte. That’s because Walker, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and head coach Steve Clifford all have been given extensions recently enough to ensure theyโ€™ll be with the team for the long haul.

โ€œBy signing Kemba and MKG to extensions, re-signing the coach, that shows that weโ€™re not just building something for this year and next year,โ€ Batum said. โ€œNo, weโ€™re looking long-term with this group of guys. Thatโ€™s good for the fan base, the players, everybody.

โ€œYou canโ€™t just do something like this for one year. It takes time. Itโ€™s a process, but this style of things is good. Weโ€™re young, weโ€™re talented, we like the coach. Hopefully we can keep this same group of guys for a couple years.โ€

Doing so would keep Batum from having to watch another young, talented core fall apart at the apex of its progress. Whatโ€™s different this time, though, is that Batum isnโ€™t one of those young kids anymore. Now, heโ€™s the veteran.

โ€œIโ€™ve had different roles in my career. I was a rookie once, and then the last couple of years Iโ€™ve been looked on more as a playmaker to fit alongside LaMarcus and Dame,โ€ Batum said. โ€œNow, Iโ€™m on a different team but I sort of feel like my role is the same. The situation is just different. The coaching staff expects me to be a leader since Iโ€™m really the only older guy on the team other than Al Jefferson. Thatโ€™s a new challenge for me.โ€

Still, itโ€™s one that he welcomes, and he insists that heโ€™s happy with his new team and that heโ€™s in it for the long haul.

โ€œIโ€™m all good. The city is different, but the coach is great, my teammates are great,โ€ Batum said.

โ€œWeโ€™re young, and weโ€™ve got a ton of new guys too, so we still have to adjust to the new system and the new teammates. It will take time, and weโ€™re doing well. Weโ€™re above .500 and weโ€™ve played against some big time teams. Weโ€™ve beaten big teams too, so thatโ€™s encouraging. Weโ€™ll keep getting better.โ€

In a tight Eastern Conference, thatโ€™s going to be paramount.

โ€œEverybody in the East is in it this year,” Batum said. “Everybody talks about the Western Conference, but the East is pretty good. Even the teams nobody talks about, like the Celtics, Detroit, Orlando, us, a lot of teams have really gotten better since last year and thatโ€™s made a big difference.โ€

That has led to an Eastern Conference playoff picture that currently has 13 teams seriously competing for a spot in the postseason. Charlotte currently has the second-most wins in the East (13), but theyโ€™re only four games ahead of the 13th-best team in the conference. A lot can happen with that many competitive teams, but Batum thinks his squad is up to the challenge.

โ€œItโ€™s going to be like that until April 15th,” Batum said. “Weโ€™re going to have to battle all year long.โ€

Portland, meanwhile, is five games below .500 and doesnโ€™t look like theyโ€™ll have much of a shot at the postseason, proving that sometimes, startling change can be a blessing. What must have been a shock several months ago has turned out fairly well for Batum. It has turned out fairly well for a lot of other former Blazers too, and someday weโ€™ll figure out who fared the best from that group of former Portland players. But what weโ€™ll never know is how good they might have been had they stuck together.

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Jeff Hawkins
Sports Editor

Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry (print and digital media). A freelance writer/stay-at-home dad since 2008, Hawkins started his career with newspaper stints in Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Upstate New York and Illinois, where he earned the 2004 APSE first-place award for column writing (under 40,000 circulation). As a beat writer, he covered NASCAR Winston Cup events at NHIS (1999-2003), the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (2003-06) and the NFL's Carolina Panthers (2011-12). Hawkins penned four youth sports books, including a Michael Jordan biography. Hawkins' main hobbies include mountain bike riding, 5k trail runs at the Whitewater Center in Charlotte, N.C., and live music.

All posts by Jeff Hawkins
Author photo
Jeff Hawkins Sports Editor

Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry (print and digital media). A freelance writer/stay-at-home dad since 2008, Hawkins started his career with newspaper stints in Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Upstate New York and Illinois, where he earned the 2004 APSE first-place award for column writing (under 40,000 circulation). As a beat writer, he covered NASCAR Winston Cup events at NHIS (1999-2003), the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (2003-06) and the NFL's Carolina Panthers (2011-12). Hawkins penned four youth sports books, including a Michael Jordan biography. Hawkins' main hobbies include mountain bike riding, 5k trail runs at the Whitewater Center in Charlotte, N.C., and live music.

All posts by Jeff Hawkins