During his seven-year stint with the Portland Trail Blazers, Nicolas Batum was never better than the fourth-highest scorer on his team, playing alongside top players like LaMarcus Aldridge, Brandon Roy, and Damian Lillard.
Now with the Charlotte Hornets after being acquired from Portland in a three-player trade in June, the 26-year-old forward will have the opportunity to establish himself more on offense. Head coach Steve Clifford even went as far as saying he can be the team's No. 1 option in that department.
"Nic has always been 3rd or 4th option. Now he's going to be 2nd or 1st option" offensively. -- Clifford.
— Rick Bonnell (@rick_bonnell) September 25, 2015
Batum has always been a jack-of-all-trades on the court, thriving as a shooter, rebounder, passer, defender, and ball-handler. Not once has he been tasked with carrying the offensive load for a team, however, having always played a secondary role to more capable scorers.
The Hornets have functioned with point guard Kemba Walker and center Al Jefferson as their first and second scoring options in recent years, which may be why Clifford is entertaining the idea of changing the pecking order on his roster. Charlotte ranked 28th in points per game (94.2), 29th in field goal percentage (42 percent), last in 3-point percentage (31.8 percent), and 28th in offensive efficiency (97.6 points per 100 possessions) in 2014-15.
"I know my role is going to be different and I like that," Batum said during his introductory press conference. "I know I can do a lot of things on the court; I'm a very versatile player.
"I'm easy. I'm coachable. I'm able to adjust."
Batum is set to make $11.8 million next season, and will enter unrestricted free agency in the summer of 2016. He averaged just 9.4 points on 40 percent shooting in his final year in Portland, which was his lowest per-game output since his rookie campaign.
