Nicolas Batum heading to France during the lockout – NBA Update
Portland Trail Blazers forward Nicolas Batum is on his way to France and will play there for the duration of the lockout, according to his agent. Batum, who is contracted to the Portland Trail Blazers, wants his development to
continue abroad while the NBA season is shrouded in uncertainty.
Batum had an okay season with the Trail Blazers last year when he averaged 12.4 points per game. Batum, a 6-foot-8 forward, is viewed as one for the future by the management in Portland. However, they could not give their view
on his proposed move due to the restrictions put in place by the NBA for the duration of the lockout.
Batum had attracted serious interest last season from rival NBA franchises, who saw the player as a potential star of the future. Among interested parties were the San Antonio Spurs, who are looking to put in place pieces around
which a new Dynasty can be built, and the Denver Nuggets. The Nuggets even proposed trades that included Batum in exchange of the coveted super star Carmelo Anthony. Anthony has since joined the New York Knicks and the Trail Blazers hung on to Batum.
His agent, Bouna Ndiaye, revealed that Batum is going to finalize a deal with French basketball team SLUC Nancy in the coming days,
"They are playing in the Euro league and Nicolas, as a young talent, needs to play to get better," Ndiaye said.
The reasoning behind the move, that the player needs some action rather than just to sit around and wait for the NBA lockout to end seems to be coming straight out of the National Basketball Players Association mantra.
The NBAPA executive director Billy Hunter has repeatedly stressed on players that they should look for playing opportunities abroad as he believes the NBA lockout could last quite a while, before a resolution is reached on the
issue of a new CBA between NBA players and owners.
He repeated the message in the wake of FIBA announcing that they won’t stand in the way of contracted NBA players as long as their deals with foreign teams include a get out clause which will allow them to return to the NBA once
the lockout ends.
"We have consistently advised our members that in the event of a lockout they would have the right to be compensated for playing basketball irrespective of whether they were under contract to an NBA team or not," Hunter said Friday.
"We have encouraged all of our players to pursue such opportunities and will continue to do so."
Batum hails from France and is believed to be keen on going back to his home country for the time being. He is also set to join the French National Basketball team for the upcoming Euro Basket tournament.
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