Nicolas Batum RETURNS + Brandon Boston Jr Is Gone

Nicolas Batum RETURNS + Brandon Boston Jr Is Gone

on today’s show saying goodbye to a fan favorite but saying hello to another gonna be talking about the latest edition for the LA Clippers Brandon Boston Jr going saying sad goodbye to Brandon Boston Jr and Kai Jones gonna be talking about them all on today’s lock on the Baton Battalion is back Clippers [Music] you are locked on Clippers your daily Los Angeles Clippers podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day yes sir you were locking in with the clips thank you for making lock on Clippers the first listen of your day your team every day I’m your host Daran vieri and raised in LA and in the summer of my 19th to 20th season as a Clipper fan you can also follow me on Twitter and Instagram at Dime dropper pod And subscribe to my own YouTube channel dime dropper for even more LA Clipper LA Sports and NBA content and locked on Clippers is free and available wherever you get your podcasts including YouTube your only five day a week Clipper podcast hit the Subscribe button on YouTube and the notification Bell so you know every single time we post a video and leave a f star review on Apple podcast and let me know what you think of nio Batum being back we’re going to talk all about that on this one the sad departure of Brandon Boston Jr and then some uh Kai Jones news but before we do that this episode is brought to you by game time game time is the best place to get great deals on last minute tickets just download the game time app create an account and use code locked on NBA for $20 off your first purchase the date that I am recording this is July 5th 2024 for those that are good with dates in Clipper history that marks five years since the announcement came out on Pacific Time that kawh Leonard was going to be choosing the Clippers that he was not going back to Toronto he was not going to the Lakers he was choosing the Clippers and the reason we got him is because we fulfilled his request of getting that second star which was Paul George five years later here we are Paul George has left us this summer and Kawhi Leonard has not played a real healthy game in front of a sold out Clipper playoff crowd 5 years later we haven’t made the finals kawhai Leonard has not played a Conference Finals game for us we had one season that we were actually in LA and won a series with the 213 Duo sad looking back cuz I was so excited that day I mean you couldn’t tell me anything I was the happiest man on the planet so much so that the summer camp I was working at one of the employees that was just really short short tempered was like why are you so freaking happy man like so annoying kaai this I’m like just like oh man this is great that people are knocking me for being so positive but anyway this episode is about somebody that actually helped us and helped kawhai and Paul George get to the Conference Finals and he’s back Nico Batum this was one of the most feel-good moves that we’ve made God I do not know since how long you can go back like I was ecstatic when I heard this news Nicholas Batum agreeing to a two-year deal worth 9.6 million there were rumors that he was going to retire in 2024 that would be his last season but the opportunity to come back with the remaining money that we got obviously able to pay certain guys like Derek Jones Nico Batum Chris Dunn who that that the the terms of that deal are still being worked out that’s I think it’s a sign in trade going on there with Utah so I’m not fully doing an episode on that yet on the Chris Dunn potential Edition but as far as Nicholas patum that’s all done Dereck Jones that’s all done so Nico coming back with some more money from that taxpayer midlevel two years 9.6 million great deal those will likely be the last two years of his career and I mean last season he instantly showed even though he’s 35 years old last season he instantly showed with Philly fans why we loved him so much he played 60 games overall 57 for the Sixers just three for our Clippers and and look he looked a little bit revived in the beginning of last season those first three games he was guarding wemi he was guarding various guys at the four and the five and I was noticing that because in the 2023 season he kind of fell off a bit if you can recall you know that was my first season as locked on Clippers host but his three-point shooting was very up and down and his defense wasn’t as sharp as Seasons prior but then in the beginning of last season he looked like he was kind of back to that 2022 version or maybe a little bit worse than that 2022 version and then when I saw him in Philly and then I watched him in the playoffs guarding Jaylen Brunson I was like man Nico is still very very good very solid at what he does you know moves the ball quick doesn’t need to put the ball on the floor too much because he’s not a Creator and just does all the little things that help you win games keeping rebounds alive keeping possessions alive cutting when nobody will just making high IQ plays shooting the three ball at a good percentage and he’s able to guard one through five for real so the fact that we got him back after trading him for James Harden and like look yeah we didn’t want to lose KJ Martin Robert Covington Marcus moris we did want to get rid of but Robert Covington that was tough to swallow because he was finally starting starting to get playing time you know in the beginning of last season KJ Martin he was added to the team to be a young athletic guy that was able to pair with Russell Westbrook bones Highland and the you know the fast-paced athletic style that we were kind of promoting in training camp Nico Batum was really the guy in the trade that we were saddest to lose because Robert Covington the he played very well when he got traded here in 2022 but 2023 was frustrating you remember my constant pleas for more Robert Covington on these shows it was tough we never really got to experience a full season of what Robert Covington could do and neither did Sixers fans this past season because he was injured so much but Nico was available and he still missed 22 games and in 2022 he missed 23 games so he’s older now he’s going through his small injuries but no very serious injuries and in 2023 he played 78 games and he played in all six games of the playoffs this year he played in all five games of the playoffs last year and he played in the 19 games for us in 2021 so for the most part Nico’s there when it matters and the fact that we’re we basically got back the centerpiece of the hardened trade obviously that unprotected first rounder is really the biggest asset the most valuable asset but in terms of the actual players we got the best player back now we’re going to have another guy at the point of attack with Derrik Jones and Terrence man that can switch now we have the ability to go with Nico Kawai and Derrik Jones and Terren man and James Harden out there or even substitute teren man for Norm have that Harden nor Kawai Trio that did so well with Derek Jones and N Batum and have a small ball lineup that can switch everything again so it is just such a luxury and not to mention the guy is just a fan favorite the Batum Battalion you know the way he interacted with fans the way you didn’t hear one bad thing about him from teammates from media from fans he was interacting with the fans on social media I mean it was just he’s just one of us he’s just one of us he spent three fantastic years here was such a big part of our team that ended up breaking that second round curse part of a 2022 team that really entertained fans like myself that went to a lot of games even when Paul George missed 51 and Kawhi Leonard missed all 82 Niko Batum was able to provide good two-way play to help us get those 42 wins I’m so happy he’s back and it’s surely going to make us a better team it really is not saying we’re going to be better because of and Derrick Jones as opposed to losing Paul George Nico and Derrick Jones don’t add up to Paul George but hey man we’re at least supplementing them or supplementing Paul with something and these guys can guard and they’re going to guard more than Paul because that’s what’re going to be out there for primarily so I’m excited man I’m really excited to have Nico back last season just to end it off on the segment last season he averaged five and a half points a game four rebounds two assists on 46% from the field 40 from three again with Nico there is absolutely no point of talking about stats with him he is a guy who completely has an impact that goes beyond the stat sheet and you’re going to see that this season if you haven’t been familiar with niik batum’s game but coming up going to be talking about the sad departure of one of clipper nation’s own homegrown guys Brandon Boston Jr going to be talking about that coming up I got to tell you a little something about eBay Motors passion drive and patience the formula for winning championships is also what keeps your ride or die 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a steal in the 2021 draft he has potential he really does but it’s tough on a win now team when you have a guy that isn’t really able to be kind of an air coffee you know just a guy that spots up and shoots plays off of stars he’s kind of a guy that wants to get the ball and go get his own that kind of style is tough to mess with Stars it is tough to mesh with stars when you know you’re kind of a self-c Creator that’s not the best catch and shoot guy and we are a win now team right now so Brandon’s really never gotten a chance my thing is we’re clearly old we clearly lack athleticism he’s young and athletic can he be a consistent rotation piece though and I think that’s what the front office really thought about and was like you know what he hasn’t really shown that so they didn’t extend him a qualifying offer it’s it’s very disappointing for me because I’m somebody who’s looking past this era of Clipper basketball because it just seems the like the windows closed and I want Brandon Boston to get his chance to get shots up to work through his mistakes you know for those that think he got a chance I think he got a chance to show if he could be in a role and a in now team where he could play a role and I don’t think he could I think he was the kind of guy that needs to be part of a you know a team that’s not either not in contention to win a championship or not trying to be in en to win a championship or he’s kind of in that Norman pal role where he’s essentially just the guy that comes off the bench to get Buckets now the thing is right now he probably won’t be the most efficient he’s still learning how to score on the NBA level and he hasn’t really gotone consistent reps throughout a season to work through his mistakes and to really learn huh okay I can do this on just about anybody I got to work on this and I think there’s no better teacher than the Reps at that stage reading Brandon Boston’s stats for the Clippers the season he played the most was actually his workie season because we didn’t have kawi Paul George and he is a wing and in that season he played 15 minutes a game when he played Seven Points two rebounds on 38 and a half% shooting and 31 from three so he didn’t shoot well from the field door from three he had that amazing game against the Celtics that nobody will ever forget Brandon Boston against Boston that would made us think like oh my God this guy’s gonna be special The Following season and mind you before that season started Jerry West said that he thinks Brandon aost will be a star one day rest in peace with the great Jerry West I don’t think his prediction will come true but I’ll tell you this if Jerry West was advocating for him that much that’s enough for me to believe in the guy and for everything I saw I think that Brandon Boston was a talent was a guy that could get his own shot was a tough shot maker had a handle uh but the thing is he just didn’t really create enough space at the NBA level yet he didn’t get by his Defender well enough at the NBA level yet cuz he was on the skinnier side you know he still to put on some pounds need to put on some muscle but man he did have potential of when he gets going he can go he’s athletic he just has a knack for putting the ball in the basket and I just think with scorers like that they just need to get more comfortable playing against NBA competition and he just didn’t really get an extended run there his second season 2023 he barely played 22 games six and a half points a game on 42% from the field and 41 from three and that’s when I started noticing some off some defensive stuff cuz the first year you know you saw he wasn’t ready to play NBA defense he was getting bullied didn’t really move his feet like that but then he probably started realizing that look I’m not going to be able to get on the court unless I guard so I started noticing his ability in the passing lanes because he’s got some really long arms he has good anticipation in the passing lanes and he was trying harder you know the last two years when he was out there guarding whether it be point of attack or off ball I thought he was trying harder it’s just that he was still a little skinnier and the teams are going to attack him but I wouldn’t call him a liability by any stretch I think he’s got defensive potential as well again I truly just don’t believe he has gotten enough of a chance to be the player that he is I don’t think he’s the guy that can just play off the stars and be a catch and shoot guy that just three and D I just don’t think that’s who he is as a basketball player and clearly the Clippers felt well you’re not going to get that opportunity here so that’s it and it just makes me sad you know last season 32 games played Five Points a game 40% from the field 27% from three there was a stretch where he was starting to get some minutes you know I believe it was a m coffee that was out but it just wasn’t anything consistent it wasn’t really anything consistent and yeah he had one game where he had 23 points we lost to Phoenix started getting going at the end so I wish Brandon Boston the absolute best we drafted him it’s really unfortunate didn’t work out for us and I wanted to see him eventually get his chance but we’ll see you know he for all we know I just could just I could just be The Optimist and he might not even be an NBA player like that but we’ll see I’m hoping for the best we’ll see what team ends up going new and I’ll I’ll definitely keep an eye on him but coming up gon to be talking about Kai Jones the recent news with him and what potential impact he can make on the team going to be talking about that coming up all right so talking about the most recent news this is as of July 5th La Murray were our most recent guest here on locked on Clippers tweeted that when that actually it was sham shiria that broke it but Kai Jones has agreed to a non- guaranteed deal to return of the Clippers obviously he didn’t really get a chance to play last season when he was signed towards the end of the year but he has agreed to a non- guaranteed deal and a non- guarantee is similar to what Isaiah hartenstein has so it’s like a training camp deal when training camp begins this is what law tweeted when training camp begins Kai Jones will be 23 years old and on a one-year non- guaranteed minimum with a chance to make Clippers roster as the third Center three years ago a 23-year old Center was signed to a non- guaranteed deal by the Clippers and win a roster spot in Camp that was Isaiah hartstein if Kai Jones could be anything close to what Isaiah hardenstein was for us in 2022 oh my God we’re going to be in business next year I tend to think that that’s wishful thinking however look Kai Jones is an athletic player he’s very much a prospect Dallas maver and and the Charlotte Hornets you know they cut their ties with them he was posting strange stuff on social media I remember those tweets didn’t he I think he made a tweet that said trade me at one point so it was just strange stuff uh he’s from Nassau Bahamas went to high school in Orlando Florida and also Brewster Academy in New Hampshire before going to Texas the 19th overall pick in the 2021 draft by the Knicks but he had only played for the Charlotte Hornets in two seasons 21 games in 2022 averaged just one point a game and played three minutes it’s nothing really to take from that and then 2023 is most recent NBA season 46 games played 12 minutes a game three points three rebounds so you’re really not seeing anything from Kai Jones to suggest that just statistically that he even belongs in the NBA but it’s I’m I’m interested to see if he can earn his way onto the roster I’m rooting for him it’s always good to have an athletic center of any sort athletic bigs I mean we really lack that that’s the potential right that’s what we’re hoping for and hopefully it works out that’s all I can really say about it but overall the premise of this episode the goal of this episode is to get you excited that Nik Batum is back NCO Batum is back it’s really sad that we lost Brandon Boston Jr that’s going to hurt um but as far as the other additions to our roster I’m going to hold off on the Chris Dunn episode but it’s looking okay we just it would be really nice to get that power forward we’re still lacking it it would be nice to move kawii Leonard down to the three so keep an eye out on that Clippers trying to go for that power forward we are a little little guard heavy right now when you when it comes down to harden and bones and Terren man and if we get Chris done some tough decisions are going to have to be made of course we still have Russell Westbrook on the roster but he’s on the potentially on the move I haven’t really done an episode on that there’s really not no point of dedicating an episode to that because I mean at best we can get maybe a second round pick or a couple second rounders but I don’t think they’re getting a first round or anything significant from Russell Westbrook right now with his stock an alltime low so that maybe a segment worth but not an episode worth but yeah I am excited about Nik Batum the Batum Battalion is back it’s going to be so great I mean how much does that tell you that he loves this organization this franchise he wanted to come back to LA it was obviously very tough for him to move to Philadelphia he wanted to stay here he wanted to retire here he had this revival of his career here after some rough closing Seasons with Charlotte where of course the money that he got paid he was never going to play up to that value and that definitely made him kind of a villain s to so to speak in Charlotte because of the contract that they paid him but he was revived with us and with tyo and it’s going to be great to see him back playing for the Clippers and being in the into it dome era like come on this is just special Nicholas Paton being a guy that was part of the most successful Clipper team in franchise history for him to be able to open up our new Arena a guy that everybody likes so much I love so much and I’m going to be honest I mean the likability factor of the team matters for me and I thought last season was the hardest Clipper team for me that to like in terms of the players on it and the combination in my time as a Clipper fan I kid you not because even those really bad teams when I was young I was really young so these guys I was these These are My Heroes it’s a little different now the age that I’m at and yeah we don’t really have really homegrown players I’ve mentioned that several times teren man Amir coffee Brandon Boston Kobe Brown the only ones but coming up I’ll do an episode on Jordan Miller Kobe Brown their chances of potentially playing this season I did talk about our most recent rookies added to the roster Trenton flowers and cam Christie in the last episode but Derek Jones Jr niik Batum some of the guys that we’ve been able to pick up oh also Mo bomba I haven’t talked about him yet so I think next episode we’ll touch on Mo bomba but Nico Batum Mo bomba hopefully Chris Dunn drick Jones Jr of course replacing the money that we would have used to resign Paul George of course none of those things and none of those things combined or none of those players shouldn’t call them things none of those players combined equal that value of Paul George equal the impact of Paul George but let’s see how else they you know round out the roster before this upcoming season begins but it’s not looking that bad right now and Nico definitely makes me feel better you can follow me on Twitter and Instagram at Dime dropper pod subscribe to my own YouTube channel dime dropper for even more LA Clipper NBA and LA Sports content throughout the offseason and locked on Clippers is free and available wherever you get your podcast make sure you comment on how you’re feeling about Nico being back make sure you comment on anything I said to comment about throughout the episode And subscribe and hit the notification bell every single time we post a video is crucial I’ve been trying to get everybody to get locked on Clippers to 6K we are climbing up the ladder of locked on NBA teams I want everyone to know how real Clipper Nation really is Nico Batum welcome back baby Batum Battalion get ready to be back in activation in that wall the age-old proverb continues go Clippers

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