What to expect from Nic Batum this year?

[chips93]

What do you guys expect from batum this year?

he put up his worst ppg since his rookie year last year, but on the hornets he will have much more responsibility offensively.

he has always had great tools, size, lenght, athleticism, shooting touch, and goo ball handling, but he has never put it together for a full season. for like 3 years straight early in his career, everybody expecting him to break out, but it never happened, he has never been consistent enough.

with more freedom in charlotte, could this be the year he finally breaks out?

clifford says hes the first or second option on offense. I think he'll be an all-star this year.

[fiddy]

Sucked in FIBA Europe, dont expect him to do any better

[JimmyMcAdocious]

First or second option? Good luck getting the ball out of Al Jeff and Kemba's hands. You'll have to pry it loose from their dead bodies.

[lil jahlil]

Lackluster effort and aggression.

[BlazerRed]

A lot of inconsistency, as always.

[Dr Hawk]

A lot of inconsistency, as always.

This.

[SwishSquared]

I'm not expecting as much on offense. The Portland starting 5 fit well with each other and had much better spacing (in theory). I also think Stotts is a better offensive coach than Clifford.

I'd expect him to put up decent stats and then Charlotte will offer him $20M/year to retain him next summer.

[NustABut]

Doesn't play with the fire that you see in the upper level players, will be a solid player though.

[ScalsFan21]

What to expect? A good fantasy season, and that's about it.

The guy cannot be a central cog in an offense, as has been mentioned he has a role players' mentality to put it kindly. Doesn't help that he becomes a turnover machine anytime he's ever taken on a distributing role.

I like Batum and I think he just needs his head screwed on right to be a really awesome player. But I'm not getting my hopes up having paid pretty close attention to him over the past few years.

[NBAplayoffs2001]

I stopped predicting because he always disappoints me.

He had sixers Iggy potential but hasn't lived up to it yet. Not as athletic as Iggy but nearly.

[RoseCity07]

This is a guy that never wanted to be great. He's going to mail it in next season just like he did the past 3 in Portland.

[ScalsFan21]

This is a guy that never wanted to be great. He's going to mail it in next season just like he did the past 3 in Portland.

When you guys had Wesley and Batum the last few years, I always just found it odd looking at the two of them. Wes an undrafted guard who worked his ass off to get to be one of the best gritty "3 and D" guys in the league, Batum with way more potential and a great body for the NBA, but the huge gap in mental toughness turned Matthews into IMO the better player.

Goes to show that ceiling and upside really mean nothing unless you reach it.

[G-train]

He will excel or be traded, due to the coach.

[KNOW1EDGE]

Not much.

Probably gonna put up worse numbers than he did in Portland last year