Batum Will Decline Player Option to Become a FA

Adrian Wojnarowski [@wojespn]

Clippers F Nic Batum will decline his $3.3M player option and become a free agent, sources tell ESPN. There’s expected to be mutual interest with Clippers and Batum on reaching a new deal in July.

That's the copy+paste of the tweet... kinda weirded out by it. Does he want more money? After all the "coach Ty Lue saved my carreer" and "I'll be back if they have me" talk, this is a bit suspicious. I guess Ballmer didn't save his career and he want to dig into those pockets?

I will be the first to say he deserves every penny, he is such an important piece to this teams on floor chemistry and rotationally he can play any where any time with/against anyone. The man is magic, but this move still caught me by surprise and I am slightly nervous.

I know he comes back (I hope), but at what price? Was this always the plan behind the scenes? LEMME know your thoughts.

Not really surprised. Batum qualifies for early bird rights which takes him as high as a $10 million base salary on a new deal so it makes financial sense to turn down the $3.3 million.

I guess the question now becomes this. How high up to $10 million will Ballmer go?

I guess that is my question... how much do we think he's worth? Although I do think he is severely underpaid and underrated, not sure how much I am willing to pay him. There's a healthy amount of goodwill LAC and coach Lue have earned with him, so perhaps we can come in with a "value" contract? If he's happy in LA and grateful, I am sure he would be OK with a team friendly contract.

I guess that is my question... how much do we think he's worth? Although I do think he is severely underpaid and underrated, not sure how much I am willing to pay him. There's a healthy amount of goodwill LAC and coach Lue have earned with him, so perhaps we can come in with a "value" contract? If he's happy in LA and grateful, I am sure he would be OK with a team friendly contract.

Yeah, it bugs me that Joe Lacob always expects his upcoming free agents to always take pay cuts in order to minimize his tax payment. He wants GPII and Looney to both come in at $6 million. Screw that. He's already got 4 rings. Pay the going rate for a championship. If Ballmer is expected to pay the going rate then Lacob should as well.

That being said, I'd love to bring back Batum at a reduced price. At the end of the day, the market should dictate his value. If nobody offers the MLE or anything close to it then Ballmer should be able to bring him back at a value rate.

As for GS, I'm hoping that someone offers Looney and GPII a ton and that Poole doesn't sign an extension. Make someone offer him the max then make Lacob match it

2 years / 17 mil

Hope he comes back but I wouldn’t be surprised if he doesn’t. Isn’t Charlotte still paying him 8 mil this season?

That sounds fair. That's about his value.

Yep, this upcoming season is the final season of Charlotte paying him