Nicolas Batum Reportedly Will Exercise $27.1M Hornets Contract Option

Nicolas Batum has elected to exercise his $27.1 million player option from the Charlotte Hornets for the 2020-21 season, per Shams Charania of The Athletic.

That option caps off a five-year, $120 million deal signed with the Hornets in 2016.

The 31-year-old averaged 3.6 points, 4.5 rebounds and 3.0 assists in 2019-20.

He has played his entire 12-year career with the Portland Trail Blazers and Hornets and arrived in Charlotte after a 2015 offseason trade for Gerald Henderson and Noah Vonleh.

Batum brings a bit of everything to the mix. At his best, he's a stat-sheet stuffer who can score, rebound, dish and play good defense. For his career, he averages 11.6 points, 5.2 rebounds and 3.0 assists. Per Basketball Reference, he never had a negative box plus/minus until 2019-20.

However, his struggles on the offensive end resulted in a career-low 34.6 percent from the field (28.6 percent from three-point range) in 2019-20. Batum also had a career-low 9.2 player efficiency rating.

The news is at least somewhat surprising even though Batum likely wouldn't be getting $27.1 million elsewhere after a rough 2019-20 season that eventually saw him permanently benched.

Batum seemed resigned to leaving Charlotte in an early March interview with Scott Fowler of the Charlotte Observer.

"I apologize to the people here," he said. "Because they put so much faith in me. And it didn't go well. ... It didn't work out. But what do I have to do? Because I'm still here."

He also added, "This franchise has got a bright future, but I don't think I'll be part of it."

A fresh start elsewhere may be what Batum needs. He doesn't really fit on a young, rebuilding Hornets team looking to start a new era after the departure of franchise star Kemba Walker last offseason. But for now, he's signed with the Hornets for one more year as Charlotte looks to return to the playoffs for the first time since 2015-16.