The L.A. Clippers boast one of the more fascinating offseasons in the league.
After finishing with an impressive 50-32 record and the Western Conference's No. 5 seed, L.A. pushed the mighty Denver Nuggets to seven games when, shockingly, 11-time All-Star point guard James Harden collapsed in a do-or-die closeout contest.
Despite his umpteenth playoff failure, Harden remains a terrific talent — especially during the regular season and in non-closeout playoff games.
Last year, the 6-foot-5 Arizona State product averaged 22.8 points on .410/.352/.874 shooting splits, 8.7 assists and 5.8 rebounds across 78 healthy bouts for L.A.
According to ESPN's Shams Charania, the 36-year-old declined his $36.3 million player option for next year to instead sign a two-season, $81.5 million deal with L.A.
Now, the Clippers have opted to re-sign another one of their own key free agents.
Sources inform NBA insider Chris Haynes that combo forward Nicolas Batum is inking a two-year, $12 million deal to remain in Los Angeles.
USA: Los Angeles Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard (2) looks on from the bench as he sits next to forward Nicolas Batum (33) in the first half against the Portland Trail Blazers at Intuit Dome.
USA: Los Angeles Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard (2) looks on from the bench as he sits next to forward Nicolas Batum (33) in the first half against the Portland Trail Blazers at Intuit Dome.
© Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images
This agreement appears to hover right around the $5.7 million annual starting salary needed to ink players to the taxpayer's mid-level exception this summer, although year-to-year details have not been revealed.
Sources inform ESPN's Shams Charania that L.A. will have a team option on Batum for the 2026-27 season. Should the Clippers want to trade Batum at any point, he will earn a trade kicker (unless he waives it, which happens surprisingly often in these situations).
Charania reports that Batum's agent at Comsport, Bouna Ndiaye, negotiated the terms of the deal.
The 6-foot-8 swingman has spent most of the last five seasons in L.A. He was briefly traded out of town so that his contract could accommodate the Clippers' acquisition of native son James Harden midway through the 2023-24 season, but was re-signed in free agency last summer.
Across 78 healthy regular season bouts for L.A. last year, the 36-year-old Frenchman averaged 4.0 points on .437/.433/.810 shooting splits, 2.8 rebounds, 1.1 assists, 0.7 steals and 0.5 blocks in 17.5 minutes per.