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Once again Nicolas Batum is making a return to the Los Angeles Clippers, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania. It’s the fifth time he’s agreed to a contract with the Clippers since 2020. The deal is for two years and $11.5 million, the maximum he is able to make with his Non Bird Rights under the current CBA. The move still leaves the Clippers with the full midlevel exception to swing a big trade and absorb salary or use that space to sign a free agent.
Free agent forward Nicolas Batum intends to sign a two-year, $11.5 million deal to return to the Los Angeles Clippers, sources tell ESPN. Deal includes a team option as well as a trade kicker. Batum’s agent, Bouna Ndiaye of Comsport, negotiated the contract for the reunion. pic.twitter.com/ocreAUZeFP
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 30, 2025
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Batum recently declined his player option of $4.9 million for next year and now makes more money on a new deal. This new contract includes a team option for the second season and a trade kicker that would see his salary increase in the event Los Angeles send him to another team.
Batum Last Season
Batum didn’t spend much time on the court each night, just 18 minutes per game, but was consistently reliable. The French forward was able to suit up for 78 games and then all seven of the Clippers’ playoff games against the Denver Nuggets. Last year he averaged 4 points per game, a career low for a full season of his, on 43.3 percent shooting from deep, taking 84 percent of his shots from there, truly embodying the term “3&D” role player.
After Batum declined his player option, there was mutual interest in his return to the Clippers with their president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank saying he was “1,000 percent” hoping Batum would return in a Clippers uniform.
While the Frenchman is no longer the double digit scorer he once was in his prime, Batum still fills a valuable role for any team he’s on with his wealth of experience and veteran presence. He’s entering his 18th NBA season and hopes to make his 11th playoff run. In this year’s playoffs he played a key defensive role, averaging 1.7 blocks and 0.9 steals as he upped his scoring average to 5.6 points a game and dished out a solid if unspectacular 2 assists a night.
Fan Reaction
Frickin’ love Nico and everything he brings to our beloved team!!! 💪🏼💪🏼💪🏼
— Amir Z (@smoovepersian) June 30, 2025
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Nicolas Batum seems to have reached a Udonis Haslem-like status with the Clippers.
They’ve given him the most they can within their salary cap limitations every year he’s hit free agency. https://t.co/IgE3thYn2M
— Yossi Gozlan (@YossiGozlan) June 30, 2025
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pic.twitter.com/mvtRW9KejF
— turk (@turkxbt) June 30, 2025
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The fan sentiment towards Batum’s return has been relatively positive outside of a few saying he’s overpaid, which can be hard to argue sometimes when you’re making more salary in the millions than you are scoring points per game. Nonetheless, Batum has seemed to reach a “Udonis Haslem-like status” within the Clippers organization, consistently re-signing him to new deals every summer. A two-time Olympic silver medalist, Batum is sure to contribute once again as the backup to Kawhi Leonard.