The Hornets have announced that, finally, an agreement has been reached to complete the operation of Gordon Hayward. It is the most brilliant signing on the market for them, not the most acclaimed by fans. Several pieces were missing to move so that a space could be made in Charlotte and in the operation they wanted to put the Celtics, the already ex-team of Hayward, to scratch some compensation. So it has been. Danny Ainge, head of the Boston sports field, has managed to close a sign & trade with those of Charlotte for which the greens are the ones who sign, figuratively, Hayward to trade him for two second-round elections of the draft and a pick more but with conditions, without knowing more details as announced by the franchise, and adding to its marketing arsenal the trade exception largest in history (27.9 million available within a year, when the possibility will expire). It is a victory to safeguard the loss of the forward, who has not triumphed at the Garden but still has a lot of market.
To accommodate that salary of 120 million for 4 seasons, space was needed in the Hornets. And the decision that has been made is to free Nicolas batum, one of the most paid in the entire NBA in relation to the minutes he plays. The French forward had accepted, since he had the possibility to do so, the 27.1 million of dollars that by contract had agreed for the 2020/21 season. The cut, now official, is made through a stretch provisionIn other words, the team will be able to pay that money little by little so that it does not have to be disbursed at once and that it affects the franchise’s ability to be within the limit much less. You are going to collect everything, but in comfortable terms.
The French forward, who started in the Blazers with Sergio Rodríguez and Rudy Fernández and then has made a career in the Hornets, is free to sign for another team when the period of 48 hours that is marked to be able to absorb his contract expires. And it already has its destination agreed. The Lisieux player’s plan is to sign with the Clippers, as reported Shams Charania (The Athletic).
With the Angelenos he will sign a new contract, so he will have two sources of salary. And having been in the NBA for more than a decade they correspond, at least 2.5 million (if you only sign for one year). The terms of this second deal have not been leaked, which could lead you to earn even more since you had various teams interested in him.
Batum’s case is symptomatic not only of how twisted the nba is sometimes but, above all, of how badly Michael Jordan’s Hornets have done with him. Two seasons ago he did not reach ten points per game, but the last one was at a ridiculous 3.6 averaging 23 minutes after 22 games (as a starter, three of them). Lack of a second clear reference to Kemba Walker, at that time leader of the team, made them put on the table of Batum this great agreement in 2016, when the salary increases began to be noticed thanks to the television mega-contract signed by the NBA. 2015/16 and 2016/17 were his best seasons, with 15 points, 6’2 rebounds and 5’8 assists on average between them, after which he has performed well below the money he receives.
Nic Batum has business outside your framework as a player for which you also earn money, the most important being the participation you have in the French ASVEL chaired by his friend Tony Parker.
