5 Reasons to be “Less Bummed about Nic”

I really did not want to be writing this particular article.  On the eve of the Blazers’ 2009-10 season, I was fully expecting to crank out some fluffy drivel about how the Blazers preseason had ended on a high note against Phoenix, with some “hoorays” about the LaMarcus Aldridge signing.  Instead, Nicolas Batum (one of my favorite young Blazers) had to go and give me something real to write about…

As I’m sure any reader knows by now, Batum is set to undergo surgery on his problematic right shoulder, which he re-injured in international play this summer with Team France.  This is very bad news for Portland.  Batum was already perhaps their best perimeter defender, and seemed primed for to take another step forward after his surprising success as a starter in his rookie season last year.  There’s no concrete timetable yet, but expect Batum to be out at least until the All Star break. He’s scheduled to have the procedure on Friday.

Portland has plenty of depth and talent at SF, but nobody quite like Batum .  If they had decided to keep Ime Udoka with their fifth roster spot last week instead of using it on Patty Mills (who is also injured), that wouldn’t be as true.  As it stands, Martell Webster and Travis Outlaw will be asked to pick up the majority of the minutes that Batum’s absence will free up (with a sprinkling extra for Rudy Fernandez, as well as Jerryd Bayless perhaps).  Webster and Outlaw are both good options, especially for scoring, but neither quite brings the defensive mindset that Batum conferred.  Therefore, for anyone who is looking for a high-level summary of what Portland is losing, you can put that in one word: defense .

Like I said, I’m not here to tell you that this is a positive development.  Instead, I’m going to give you five reasons to be (slightly) less bummed about it.

1. The Blazers already had too much talent and not enough minutes to go around

Martell Webster’s return from a foot injury created even more of a logjam for Portland at the guard/forward positions this year, adding to a crowd that included Roy(SG), Batum (SF), Webster(SG,SF), Outlaw(SF,PF), Fernandez (SG), and Jerryd Bayless (PG,SG).  There figured to be at least two less-than-happy customers in that set of talented young players.  Depth is good, but this is really too much depth at the wing position, especially when the players are all hungry, young players looking to establish themselves in the league.  Batum’s sudden departure creates better opportunities for Webster, Outlaw, and even Fernandez to contribute.

This author counts himself amongst those that favor a midseason trade by Portland that “thins the herd” at the wing in order to fill another need (in my case, adding depth and grit at the PF position).  However, that was going to be tough with players like Outlaw, Webster, and Bayless getting very little court time to be “featured” for such a deal.  Almost every serious Blazer fan counts Batum in the “keeper / don’t even think about trading this guy” category.  Batum is really the future for Portland at small forward.  If there is one clear-cut “silver lining” to his injury, it’s that Portland will now have no trouble featuring their other talented forwards for a future deal that eventually opens up the role for Batum in an unquestioned fashion.

2. Batum should be around for the playoffs

This one might strike you as a cop-out, but I am extremely thankful that this injury has struck Portland in 2009, rather than 2010.  Repairing a torn labrum is certainly not a minor procedure, but it’s likely that Nicolas Batum will be able to play for Portland in the 2010 playoffs.  While it’s certainly going to hurt not having Batum for much of the regular season, the playoffs are when they are going to really need him .  As Batum’s primary contribution comes in the areas of hustle, defense, and finishing on the fast break, he should be able to make an immediate contribution upon return.

3. Martell Webster

Webster has become something of a forgotten man around the league after missing all of 2008-09 with a foot injury.  This preseason, Webster has looked impressive at times, and more importantly he’s looked healthy.  While no formal announcement has been made at the time that I’m writing this, it’s a foregone conclusion by most that Webster will start for an injured Batum.  In some ways, Webster is a better fit with the Blazers’ starting five than Batum was.  He’s a better long range shooter , which will stretch the defense and improve the spacing for Brandon Roy.  Webster’s marksmanship might make for better chemistry in the starting five when/if Andre Miller takes over as starting PG, as he will help to cover the role of “spot-up three-point shooter” that Steve Blake fills so well.  Put a different way, it’s harder to replace Blake with Miller if your starting small forward is Nicolas Batum.  However, with Martell Webster stretching the opposing defense, having a three point specialist at PG makes for less of a team-need.

Webster’s return for 2009-10 is really tantamount to a free agent acquisition for Portland.  He wasn’t a part of the 54-win equation in 2008-09 at all.  His resurrection softens the blow of Batum’s loss, greatly.  Moreover, it gives Portland and Webster the chance to regain some of his value in the eyes of GM’s around the league.  Martell signed a 4 year, $20 million contract early last year, which his serious foot injury turned into a major liability .  If he’s able to step up in Batum’s absence and make a major contribution, his contract will suddenly become a valuable trade asset again.

4. Ime Udoka is still available

Ime Udoka is a defensive specialist at the SF position that could potentially fill the gap left by Batum in the areas of defense and hustle play.  On October 22nd, Portland chose to waive Udoka (along with backup center Jarron Collins) in favor of using its 15th roster spot on an injured rookie point guard, Patty Mills.  At the time, this seemed like an odd decision to many experts and Portland fans.  Portland is relatively loaded at the PG position with Andre Miller, Steve Blake, and Jerryd Bayless.  Mills may never see the court in 2009-10 for the Blazers, whereas Udoka and Collins would have been able to make actual contributions in games.  Moreover, those guys are also both heady veterans that would have provided great value on the practice court and in the locker-room.

In hindsight of the Batum injury, waiving Udoka looks like an awful decision.  However, he was not claimed off of waivers (as far as I can tell) and signed by another NBA team, thus making him a free agent to date.  If Portland were to bring him back on a 10-day contract, I’m fairly sure he would stick with the team for the whole season.  Udoka knows McMillan’s system (having started for Nate for a full season in 2006-07, as well has spending all of training camp with Portland this summer), and he would be able to step right in and fill some of the role that Batum was expected to fulfill.  Portland really needs to find a way to get this done in the next few days, if possible.

5. Batum will be able to make a full recovery from this injury

I have some recent, personal experience with this exact injury.  In March of this year, I was diagnosed with the same injury, a labral tear of my right shoulder.  Being generally averse to hospitals and surgeries, I sought several opinions from shoulder specialists regarding my particular case.  In the process, I learned that athletes can regain full power and range of motion after undergoing procedures to repair a torn labrum.  This is not the case, for example, with something like a torn rotator cuff or biceps tendon.  Also important, Batum should not be at risk of continually suffering this same injury after having the surgeons mend it.  Finally, if the time frames for recovery that were given to me are accurate (and I suspect they are, given that three different specialists told me roughly the same thing), it seems quite probable that Batum can have a faster recovery than the one being quoted by the media presently.  Batum is only 20 years old and figures to heal faster than most injured NBA athletes.

I am really bummed about losing Nicolas Batum – don’t get me wrong.  However, if there was one starter that Portland could afford to lose for this span of time, it’s probably Batum.  Blake is a crucial player for Portland at the PG position given that Jerryd Bayless hasn’t really taken to the role as of yet.  It’s impossible to dismiss the loss, but one can cast out a handful of legitimate reasons to be less bummed about it…

Tags: Ime Udoka, Jerryd Bayless, Martell Webster, Nicolas Batum, Rudy Fernandez, Travis Outlaw