RC to Batum: You will soon be in black and silver

[ShoogarBear]

Did RC also send him an email telling him he needs to rebound better?

[Mr.Bottomtooth]

Neither comment have much in common with each other.

[rayray2k8]

That's interesting and for the casual spurs fan, that would make it seem like the spurs will be making some needed changes in the summer.
Think the expiring contract would seem more valuable at this point with next summer coming.
Love how some posters here are downplaying the idea of having Batum here.
From what I saw, the kid can play and it'd be stupid to say that he couldn't help the spurs in the future.
Be the all french team by next year, if a trade did go down. (Insert French flag here.)
Parker, Ian, Batam.

[ChumpDumper]

So RC's new GM strategy is jedi mind tricks.

Great.

[tp2021]

So RC's new GM strategy is jedi mind tricks.

Great.

These aren't the teammates you're looking for.

[exstatic]

So RC's new GM strategy is jedi mind tricks.

Great.

These aren't the teammates you're looking for.

[duncan228]

From Blazers Edge.

Hands Off, Buford!
by Dave

A friend of ours from France, Julien, directs our attention to this article from the French website l'Equipe. It contains an interview with Blazer forward Nicolas Batum. This is the excerpt in question:

A un niveau personnel, cela a aussi été une bonne année, car j'ai beaucoup joué, ce qui était quand même inespéré en début d'année. 18 minutes par match, je ne l'imaginais qu'en D-League. Pas en NBA. J'ai été 76 fois ulaire durant la saison régulière, dans une équipe qui gagne, c'est bien. Je suis content. Et apparemment, cela a plu. Les Blazers sont contents, et les Spurs(qui le voulaient le soir de la draft) me suivent toujours. Après notre dernier match à San Antonio, RC Buford (le manager des Spurs) est venu me voir pour me dire : 'Tu seras bientôt en noir et argent.' Mais je suis bien à Portland...

Julien offers this translation:

Personally, it has been a very good year, because of the time i spend on the court. At the beginnig of this season, nobody expected that i played that much. 18 min per game, I imagined it just in D-League, not in NBA. I've been 76 times a starter during the regular season in a winning team, that's good. I'm happy. And apparently, a lot of people are happy. The Blazers are happy and the Spurs (franchise that wanted Nicolas so bad during draft night) still observing me. After our last game at San Antonio, RC Buford (Spurs' general manager) came to told me : "You will be soon in black and silver". But still, i'm great in Portland.

Now I know that side conversations between players and officials from other teams go on all the time. They aren't meant for public consumption. But "You will soon be in black and silver" is treading pretty close to the fighting line with me. I wonder how close to the tampering line it treads as well? That doesn't seem entirely acceptable.

That aside, has San Antonio got anyone you'd take at this point for Batum? Anyone they'd reasonably give, that is. Or was Buford just hoping the Blazers would fall asleep at the switch and let Batum drift into unrestricted free agency off of his rookie contract somehow?

Thanks to Julien for the heads up.

I guess now it's time for K.P. to start whispering in Tony Parker's ear.

[Halberto]

I don't understand the hype following this guy

[tp2021]

I guess now it's time for K.P. to start whispering in Tony Parker's ear.

Good luck with that. He's got Eva for those kinds of things. Get too cloase to Tony and Eva will throw a slap at him. And you know if he retaliates with a Pritchslap, TP will give him a slap.

[jrmp317]

I don't understand the hype following this guy

he is young, legit 6'8'', and plays good D.

[Udokafan05]

upgrade over finley

[Ditty]

i was jsut thinking about right now what if spurs pulled off some blockbuster lopsided trade for batum and ferndez in 2010

dont reallly have no one to offer but could use draft picks and maybe use splitter or javoataskas as bait

but i hope batum will ply for the spurs in about 2 or 3 years max

[SequSpur]

whatever, batum sucks

[montgod]

I don't think anything will transpire with him. Portland has too many other players (Webster, Fernandez, Sergio, Outlaw, etc.) that they will try to dump to help their cap then Batum whose salary is manageable.

Too bad that Miles came back when he did... haha.

I am curious though why the Spurs wouldn't trade with Pritchard. Is there some bad blood between him and the FO? If so... do share.

[sexinthatsx]

whatever, batum. We don't need his ass. We have a beastly SF that is wayyy better than batum in James Gist. Now that guy is legit

[The Truth #6]

Another thing to consider: if Batum possibly made this up, then what about his comments immediately after getting drafted by the Blazers? If I remember, he seemed to indicate that the Spurs were going to draft him, even though George Hill thought the same thing. Not really a big deal, but it seemed to throw the board into several long discussions, all because some other comments he made.

I suppose we'll never really know much in these situations, especially when dealing with a combination of the media and players who like to exaggerate their own importance.

[Obstructed_View]

Another thing to consider: if Batum possibly made this up, then what about his comments immediately after getting drafted by the Blazers? If I remember, he seemed to indicate that the Spurs were going to draft him, even though George Hill thought the same thing.

I thought about this as well. He sounds like he's full of to me. We'll definitely find out, because the league is going to investigate to see if there was tampering by the Spurs, and we'll certainly find out about it if Batum was telling the truth.

[Blackjack]

Yeah, uh... I'm not buying it.

This is either a case of lost in translation, or Batum's a little on the insecure side, looking to make himself a little more important with his native France.

R.C., despite what some posters would have you believe, is simply not that stupid or wreckless to risk tampering charges.

[timvp]

There's a big difference between bad scouting and doing something that is against the rules of the NBA.

[urunobili]

There's a big difference between bad scouting and doing something that is against the rules of the NBA.

I was just teasing... but i also learned a new NBA rule while reading the thread

[ChumpDumper]

It's not that bad an offense. No picks would be lost.

[DPG21920]

[Yogurt210]

Haha, I knew it. I told you so, Batum will be a huge gain.
my realistic dream team for next year is coming closer to reality.

Now we just gotta get Bonsu Back

[SenorSpur]

Portland would like to deal several players and Batum was on the list, but what do they want in return? Im sure the spurs will look into it this off season but dont think hes moved.

Can you share how you've become aware that Portland is willing to deal several players this summer?

[Russ]

How well does Batum speak (or understand) English?

RC may have just said, with a smile, "Sure wish you were in Silver and Black." The other statement simply makes no sense, whether the Spurs are after Batum or not. (For example, if the Spurs are really so set on Batum that RC would make such a definitive statement, the price just went up.)