How ex-Charlotte Hornet Nicolas Batum heard he was being released sounds ice cold
Nicolas Batum, once prized by the Charlotte Hornets, said the team never gave him a heads-up he was being released last November.
“I found out on Twitter, like everybody else,” Batum said in response to a question from the Observer on Friday.
A few days into NBA free-agency, the Hornets came to terms with free agent Gordon Hayward on a four-year, $120 million contract. In order to clear salary-cap space to add Hayward, the Hornets had to either trade the remaining $27 million on Batum’s contract or use the stretch provision to spread cap implications over three seasons.
Batum was blindsided when his phone blew up with calls and messages that Saturday last November.
“I was in Paris, at my house, when it popped out. And then my agent called them, and we (started) the process. It took a week” before the Hornets exhausted trade possibilities and waived Batum.
The Hornets declined to comment Friday on how they handled Batum’s departure.
The Hornets recruited Batum aggressively with a midnight meeting at the start of free-agency in the summer of 2016. They re-signed him to a 5-year, $120 million contract, then the largest deal in franchise history.
Batum has acknowledged he didn’t live up to that salary as a Hornet. When the team went to a youth movement the second half of last season, Batum dropped out of the rotation entirely.
Is Batum, now with the Los Angeles Clippers, comfortable with how his departure was handled by the Hornets?
“Don’t ask me that question,” Batum said with a laugh. “I had no choice (as to leaving). I can’t really talk about it because I don’t really know” what went into the Hornets’ decision.
“I got released. I didn’t ask for anything (to happen). Then the news came out, and people were calling — (NBA executives) calling to get me to their teams.”
Batum signed a one-season, $2.5 million contract with the Clippers, where his career has reignited. He has started 37 of 39 games this season for a title contender, averaging 8.8 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2.3 assists. He is shooting 47% from the field and a career-best 44% from 3-point range.
The Hornets play the Clippers in Los Angeles on Saturday at 10 p.m.
Batum has said the Hornets coaching change, from Steve Clifford to James Borrego in the spring of 2018, worked to his disfavor.
“The first two years in Charlotte was great, I had a very good relationship with Steve Clifford,” Batum told the Los Angeles Times in January. “We made a change as a coach and it didn’t work out. It happens sometimes.”
The Clippers recently inserted Marcus Morris into the starting lineup, moving Batum to the second unit. Batum said that’s no big deal — that coach Tyronn Lue’s decision doesn’t significantly diminish Batum’s minutes or role.
“Nothing really changed for me,” Batum said. “My playing time really doesn’t change much and I’m still playing in the fourth quarter. I don’t really (mind) it.”
Batum said making peace with not playing the second half of last season was a mid-career growing experience.
“The last year (in Charlotte) was different — I learned to keep affecting the game, to be a good teammate even when you’re not playing,” Batum said Friday.
“Even when the situation isn’t going your way, you have to do your job and show up on time — working, and making sure your teammates are in a good spot. That’s what I did, especially last year.”
This story was originally published March 19, 2021 at 2:59 PM.
