Five Early Free Agent Targets Bryan Colangelo Will Covet

Charlotte Hornets Swingman Nicolas Batum is exactly the kind of three-and-D type of player that the Sixers have been lacking throughout their three years of tanking. They had players like Hollis Thompson, and Isaiah Canaan that could efficiently shoot threes, and players that could lock down the defensive side of the ball like Luc Richard Mbah Moute, and Jakarr Sampson. Unfortunately, the shooters at times lacked defense, and the defensive stalwarts couldn’t shoot a lick.

Batum has floated around 35-40 percent from beyond the arc throughout his seven year career. While that’s just enough to get him inside the top 100 in 3-point percentage, It’s actually a great bounce back for him. He had a very down year in 2014-2015, which hurt his status as a building block in Portland. Subsequently he was moved in a deal to the Hornets that was basically a notion that the Trail Blazers no longer believed he was worth the last year of his $12 million a year contract.

Now that he’s once again playing at a high level, Batum is actually going to command more than his current salary on the open market this summer. The rumors are that Batum and his agent Bouna Ndiaye will command upwards of $15-17 million a year-Per John Canzano. To be honest, that’s quite steep, but if Bryan Colangelo wants some potential all-stars on his team he’s going to have to open his wallet.

I see Batum as sort of a very good consolation prize if the Sixers lose out on Demar DeRozan this offseason. He’s not nearly the kind of quick scorer DeRozan is, but he is longer and more rangy on defense, and on the boards. One of the most impressive traits I love about Batum is that he can get you 5+ assists on a nightly basis without handling the ball very much at all.

The fact that he was able to go to a new team and turn his career around says a lot about Batum’s adaptability. While he’s not a superstar, he is indeed a great player, and would immediately give the Sixers someone they can stick on the other team’s best player, and drill threes when you need him to. That’s right, he can do both of those things.

It’s worth noting that Batum has the same native tongue as Joel Embiid. Perhaps JoJo could recruit his next mentor since Mbah Moute is long gone. Maybe they’ll bring in Evan Fournier with them too. French party in Philly!

Next: #4 Ryan Anderson