NBA Rumors: Portland Trail Blazers Must Keep Nicolas Batum at All Costs

The 2011-12 NBA season has officially ended for the Portland Trail Blazers, and while the team is going to make a number of changes to next year's rotation, they must make bringing back Nicolas Batum a priority this offseason.

According to Chris Haynes of CSNNW, Batum is likely to command somewhere in the range of $10-11 million, and the San Antonio Spurs are expected to make a run at attaining the 23-year-old forward.

Batum, a restricted free agent, says that he is 99 percent sure the Blazers will match any offer that comes his way, and if the team is smart, they'll make sure that that's exactly what happens.

The Blazers still have the option to sign Batum to a long-term deal rather than the $5.4 million qualifying offer he's expected to receive.

Doing so would remove the question of where he will land next season, but it would also take away a chunk of the money Portland can spend in the free-agent market before Batum makes his decision.

Don't expect it to happen that way, however, as a botched negotiation in January led Batum's agent to say, "On July 1 we're going to look at the market first before we come back to the Blazers. That's for sure."

If the Blazers do choose to let Batum walk, they're expected to have $25.9 million to spend this summer—easily enough to extend a maximum contract to an NBA Superstar.

The only problem? It's still Portland.

The city of Portland is fantastic, but Rip City has never been a prime-time free-agent destination, and it could prove to be tough to attract megastars to the Northwest.

The past few years have seen Andre Miller, Wesley Matthews and Jamal Crawford sign with the Blazers, so the team could be trending in the right direction toward becoming a hotter landing spot amongst NBA players.

Those names don't exactly scream stardom, though, so if the Blazers are unable to attract the likes of the league's best players, they could end up overspending to get production value lower than they already have with Batum.

$10 million is a lot of money, and the question of whether or not Batum's numbers warrant such a contract is a valid one. 

His numbers have mostly risen across the stat sheet since his rookie season, but from month to month he has the tendency to look like an entirely different player. Sometimes he's aggressive; sometimes he's not. Sometimes he's on fire; sometimes he can't score.

When offering a contract, looking into the past is important, but looking into the future is where you determine value.

Batum has the potential to be one of the most versatile players on the Blazers' entire roster moving forward.

Able to start at the shooting guard or small forward positions, the 6'8" forward can knock down the three, is becoming a better rebounder and has shown at times a surprising ability to finish above the rim.

On defense, while he hasn't yet shown the brilliance fans were hoping for, his length and timing have been showcased on fast breaks, in the passing lanes and in his ability to matchup against the point guard through the power forward positions on most nights.

Is Batum the next Scottie Pippen? Not likely.

Batum probably won't ever be a No. 1 option for the Trail Blazers, and depending on whom the team brings in this summer, he may even find himself dropping down the list of go-to scorers in Portland.

However, if he can be a glue guy who impacts both ends of the floor and takes the pressure off of LaMarcus Aldridge moving forward, the Blazers need to realize that he is worth the money.

Without Batum on the books, the team has enough cap space to get a superstar. With him on the books, they can still afford to bring in two lottery picks and a free agent core that could add proven role players to a roster that finds itself with a sudden need for depth and production.

The question moving forward no longer becomes whether or not the Blazers can afford to pay Batum the big bucks, but, rather, can they afford to let him go as the team begins rebuilding this summer?

The team needs to realize that the answer is no, and come next season, Batum needs to be right back in Portland alongside Aldridge leading the youngsters and new guys into a new era of Trail Blazers basketball.