As expected, the Hornets have waived veteran forward Nicolas Batum, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). The team has officially confirmed the move in a press release.
Batum was excised from the Hornets’ rotation this past season, appearing in just 22 games (23.0 MPG) and playing poorly in his limited time, with 3.6 PPG, 4.5 RPG, and 3.0 APG on .346/.286/.900 shooting. However, he’s only entering his age-32 season and should look more appealing on a minimum-salary deal than he did on his five-year, $120MM contract.
The Clippers are willing to bet on a bounce-back season from Batum, with Charania reporting (via Twitter) that the forward intends to sign with L.A. once he clears waivers. The Clips only have 12 players on fully guaranteed salaries and could use some additional depth on the wing, so Batum should be a good fit on the roster.
According to Charania (via Twitter), the Clippers were one of multiple contending teams with interest in Batum once Charlotte made it clear he would be cut. Golden State, Toronto, Utah, and Milwaukee were previously cited as potential suitors.
A report back on November 21 first indicated that Charlotte planned to waive Batum and stretch his $27MM+ salary across three seasons, opening up the cap room necessary for the team to sign Gordon Hayward to his new four-year, $120MM contract.
Once the Celtics and Hornets began discussing the possibility of turning Charlotte’s Hayward acquisition into a sign-and-trade, there was some uncertainty about whether releasing Batum would be necessary. The Hornets were believed to be exploring the possibility of sending him to Boston or – more likely – another team as part of a Hayward deal.
Although that won’t happen, that doesn’t mean that Hayward can’t still be acquired via sign-and-trade. We continue to await word on that front, but a sign-and-trade agreement would benefit the Celtics, who could generate a massive traded player exception in such a deal.
Now that Batum has been waived, it will make little difference from the Hornets’ perspective whether they sign Hayward outright or acquire him via sign-and-trade. If they can extract a sweetener (ie. a second-round pick or two) from Boston, it would make sense for Charlotte to accommodate the C’s and turn it into a sign-and-trade. We should find out soon whether or not that’s in the cards.
[UPDATE: Hornets Add Gordon Hayward Via Sign-And-Trade With Celtics]
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Good pick up for LAC.
Brutal for BOS, but just an all around unfortunate experience with the Hayward signing.
Makes no difference at all for the C’s. They can still get a sign and trade done. If they can, they’ll be very happy with how things went down. They’ll be the only team in the league that can absorb a big salary (well, them and the Knicks) this year.
Yeah, you wrote that a bit too soon.
Also Tristan Thompson might actually be a better pickup than Myles Turner.. especially when u look at the contracts
Celtics don’t help Hornets to save costs
Now it’s much better for Celtics to make a good trade
It’s good for Clippers. He still a solid vet at minimum. Good addition for playoffs too.
Clippers are a joke. They still haven’t addressed the point guard hole for their team. I’ve never seen so many teams underachieve (clippers,celtics) and are one piece away(nuggets) and not make trades to improve. These GM’s are a joke!
Yeah
Clippers, Nuggets and Celtics get worse at the moment
Blazers are a better team than Nuggets now
Nuggets bench is bad if Porter starts
Barton
Green
Morris
How did Clippers get worse
Ibaka and Kennard are upgrades over Shamet and Harrell
They ll add a PG before the season
Plus adding Batum
Those upgrades are so false. Who’s going to tell Ty Lue how to coach?
At least he won’t blow 3-1 leads in the playoffs like Doc does.
How did the Celtics underachieve? They were not picked by anyone to even reach the conference Finals, specially after losing Horford last season for nothing. In fact, they were a few lapses away from actually facing the Lakers in the finals with their 2 best players being 22 and 23 yrs old, with a PG that wasn’t playing well on a balky knee. They were anything but underachievers.
Celtics still haven’t made the finals yet this decade…just conference finals. It’s a failure. Kemba was supposed to be the difference and he flamed out vs Miami… Let’s not act like nobody in life had them picked to come out of the east, many did.
This decade? You might want to look up what that means.
Maybe I used the wrong word. Fact is they haven’t made the finals in 10 years. 3 guys averaging 20+ and can’t make the finals…all they did the last 4 yearas if fold. All that talent and flop! But yea excuses excuses.
celtics lost to a heat team that took lakers team with lebum/AD to 6 games lmao but ok buddy
lol lakers havent made finals in a decade till this year either.
How could they. They have no cap room. Had to sign Ibaka which was huge. Rondo took more money. They will have to make a trade for one. I agree definitely have to get a playmaking guard.
I did say they gotta trade for a point guard. At this point their only option is to trade for D Rose…
lmao how clippers/celtics get worse? they got better especially celtics finally getting a rebounder…clippers lost Harrell,Green & replaced them with Ibaka/Batum and still can make another move
Celtics got Thompson sure but I wouldn’t put them past sixers or bucks. Clippers swapped Ibaka for Harrell and still lack a true point guard. The only move is to trade for D Rose and they haven’t even done that yet. But hey Kawhi will likely be gone next off season….
lol same philly team that loses to them every year? and bucks lost Lopez and Bledsoe..we dont know how Jrue will hold up..same as when people thought Conley would be great at Utah….Celtics/Heat still the favorites to win the East and Celtics got a guy who helps against Bam and now have a 26 million trade exception to make them even better LOL
Good move but now they need to get a true Point guard that can run their offense.
Same goes for the Sixers.
Still say best place for Westbrook is Philly. Harris fits better with Harden. Morey should make it happen. Simmons can play either wing SF, PF.
Pretty sure I explained what they didn’t fix in English! Clippers added Ibaka whom is better then Harrell; yes! They still don’t have an actual point guard. When Kawhi was at his best he had a true all-star point guard. Clippers wanna get bounced in the second round again? Let them not fix the point guard issue that Kawhi even told them to address…
I’d say that Ibaka/Harrell is a wash but even if it’s a slight upgrade it’s not an addition, it’s a slight upgrade at the same position. Kennard has bad knees, Shamet is better. What’s happening is that the Clippers are trying to get rid of the holdovers that didn’t get along with Kawaii and George. Also let’s not forget Green is gone as well
you kidding ? ibaka is a massive upgrade ovee Harrell…Harrell is useless in the West Playoffs since all those teams have good bigs that outplay him…Shamet was decent but Kennard offers more with playmaking and shooting…Doc Rivers was useless with rotations
Batum plays good D, is a good rebounder for his size and is a very good passer. He basically lost all confidence in his own offense. If he gets that back he definitely could help the Clippers.
Beverley is just a backup and is overpaid. He’s the one most hurting them now. Lou had 5.6 ast a gm. He can play PG at least share it. Kawhi and PG need to stop trying to be the PG. Clippers will be fine. That can pickup a playmaker during season. One who gets dropped or cut. Or just go and trade for one. Batum here they can use Williams. But I would try my best to move Beverley.
Word is Bevs a locker room guy maybe why they’re holding on to him…
Yeah I get that, and he’s great D guy. But at 14 mill a yr. A playmaking PG is more important.
Clippers better off waiting for buyout market if they cant trade Lou or Beverly for a playmaker
Not going to get another contact playing 10mpg
Batum has been practically resting the past few years in that HORNETS bench ……… he can still play, just don’t pay him anything above the vet minimum.
Lakers just won so you can’t say they haven’t won when they just did and are likely to repeat! Yes Doc needs to stop blowing 3-1 leads lol. Clippers need to trade for DRose, waiting for the buyout market will take too long….
lakers got worse IMO…lebron is another year older too and father time is coming soon…what if Gasol gets injured? they only have Harrell whos undersized as backup to AD…Howard/Mcgee scared me more
I totally agree. Lakers fans will find out how gasol and Harrell are not as good as they imagined. But this year Lebron will not show his age most likely the season after . Clippers got better with ibaka and a full season of Morris and Kennard . Shamet In my opinion is a bit overrated did not prove anything yet. Clipper will add a pg through trade or waivers . I really hope Lowry would join them .