We love the Sixers’ roster heading into the season, but another season of Nico dropping post entry passes like manna from from heaven would have been nice to watch.
When the Philadelphia 76ers traded James Harden to the Los Angeles Clippers last October, the return was centered more around the draft capital for a guy who considered Daryl Morey to be a liar and had clearly suited up for the last time as a Sixer. However, the players coming back in the deal proved to be valuable, none more so than Nicolas Batum.
Batum played 57 regular season games for the Sixers last season, starting 38 of those contests. His averages of 5.5 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 2.2 assists belied the reality that he was a ‘little things All-Star. His defensive length and flexibility across different lineups proved invaluable. Nic was one of the best post entry passers the team has had during the Joel Embiid era. In a February game against Cleveland, Batum was supposed to be getting a load management night, but Nick Nurse inserted him into the game in the final minute simply to inbound the ball once, before subbing him out again. His 20 points and game-saving block in the Play-In game against Miami was the stuff of legend.
Naturally, then, Sixers fans were bummed when Batum agreed to a two-year deal to return to the Clippers this summer, rather than coming back to Philadelphia. On a recent episode of the Brian Windhorst and The Hoop Collective podcast, ESPN’s Tim Bontemps indicated the Sixers were very close to retaining Nic (at the 43:26 mark):
“The one thing you could say that’s a disappointment for the Sixers from the way everything went [this summer] is they were really close to getting Nic Batum back. He was going back and forth between, at least my understanding was, going back to Philly or going back to the team that traded him, the Clippers, and I think, family played a part in him going back to the Clippers. He was pretty comfortable out in LA.”
Daryl Morey had a strong offseason and most people feel optimistic about the Sixers’ roster heading into the season, but it sure would have been nice for Nic Batum to still be dropping dimes and chopping it up with Joel in French in the City of Brotherly Love. Alas, it’s hard to compete with the sunshine and bright lights of Hollywood.