[220Participant]

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/8178326/portland-trail-blazers-match-minnesota-timberwolves-offer-nicolas-batum

The Portland Trail Blazers weren’t bluffing about Nicolas Batum after all.

The Blazers matched Minnesota’s four-year offer sheet worth more than $45 million for the restricted free agent on Wednesday, keeping the 23-year-old swingman in Portland just like GM Neil Olshey said they would all along.

Batum left the French national team, which is preparing for the Olympics, to fly to Portland on Wednesday and take a physical before the deal was matched. Putting pen to paper brought an end to a long and occasionally bitter negotiation between the Blazers and the Timberwolves, who were convinced Batum was the missing piece in a young core that already has Kevin Love and Ricky Rubio.

Timberwolves President David Kahn has been interested in Batum for several years and was aggressive when free agency opened at the start of this month. The Wolves hosted Batum in the first week of July and agreed to terms on an offer sheet on July 6, with Batum’s agent saying his client very much preferred Minnesota over staying in Portland.

The Wolves were hoping that the size of the deal coupled with Batum’s stated desire to play under Wolves coach Rick Adelman and alongside Love and Rubio would be enough to convince the Blazers to agree to a sign-and-trade to bring the versatile swingman to Minnesota.

The two teams spent a week and a half in negotiations, but never could find common ground. Unwilling to part with Derrick Williams and a bevy of draft picks, the Wolves searched far and wide to add a third team to the mix that would have added some attractive pieces for the Blazers to pull the trigger. The Wolves offered multiple first-round draft picks and Bulls shooter Kyle Korver in one version of the deal, but that was rejected and Korver instead was traded to Atlanta.

Even when it became apparent that a sign-and-trade wasn’t going to happen, the Wolves pressed on. Owner Glen Taylor said last week that they planned "to call their bluff" and file the offer sheet with the league to see if Olshey was serious about matching any offer. After making a few moves to create the necessary cap room, the Wolves submitted the offer sheet to the league on Sunday, giving the Blazers three days to match.

Through it all, signs of a nasty little feud that originated years ago started to surface. Olshey took a few public jabs at Kahn and the state of Minnesota while the Wolves tried to pry Batum out of Portland.

While Olshey is new to the Blazers, the acrimony could have originated several years ago. Before hiring Kahn in 2009, the Timberwolves interviewed former Blazers executive Tom Penn for the job as their basketball boss, and Penn parlayed that interest into a raise with the Blazers.

The Wolves had some concerns with the Blazers stemming from a draft-night trade that brought Martell Webster to Minnesota in 2010. Webster was hampered by back problems in his two seasons in Minnesota, and the Wolves are convinced the Blazers knew about his condition and did not disclose it before the deal was made.

And Taylor didn’t always see eye-to-eye with Blazers owner Paul Allen during the negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement, with Allen part of a faction of owners who were pressing to hold for the very best deal they could get while Taylor was among those pushing for compromise to get the league back in action.

It all came to a head over Batum, who is entering his fifth season and averaged 13.9 points and 4.6 rebounds last year.

While he enjoys living in Portland and playing in front of the Blazers’ passionate fans, Batum’s agent claimed that his client grew disenchanted with the way he was used by former coach Nate McMillan. Batum was looking for more freedom to go to the rim on offense, and more of an opportunity to display his athleticism, which is why he was hoping to come to Minnesota and play in Adelman’s more wide-open offense.

Batum and the Blazers also hit a road block in January, when Portland declined to extend a long-term contract, which allowed him to become a free agent. The Blazers told Batum all along that they wanted to bring him back, but also wanted the cap flexibility to make other moves to supplement a roster that includes Batum and big man LaMarcus Aldridge.

After missing out on center Roy Hibbert when their max offer was matched by Indiana, the Blazers appear to be moving forward with Batum, Aldridge and rookie point guard Damian Lillard as they try to re-tool in the powerful Western Conference.

In some ways, losing out on Batum will still help the Wolves. They have more than $14 million in cap room now, and are expected to announce agreements with former Blazers guard Brandon Roy and Russian guard Alexey Shved in the coming days.

Minnesota also is interested in Celtics restricted free agent Greg Stiemsma, Lakers power forward Jordan Hill and is expected to pursue Rockets free agent Courtney Lee and Bulls veteran Ronnie Brewer as contingency plans for Batum.

Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press

[BostonkingsParticipant]

 David Kahn might be a little angry with this news, they did alot of preparing to offer Batum this deal and Portland snatched him right quick

[surveParticipant]

 yeah, but did Kahn hit em with the poison pill like Houston did to NYK?

[Raef LaFrentzParticipant]

Not really much preparing that wouldn’t have been done anyway…

A. Amnestying Darko was bound to happen.

B. Waiving Webster and paying him $600,000 rather that the $5.7mil he was owed was also another no-brainer.

C. Trading Miller’s  non-guaranteed contract in order to save money? Another move that was going to go down one way or another.

All they had to really do that wasn’t "by the book" was holding off on actually signing Brandon Roy and Shved. Also, they will most likely be able to announce the soon-to-come signing of Stiemsma and/or Jordan Hill. The news does kind of suck for the Wolves, but there are still a few FA’s out there that they can get their hands on now that the have around $14mil in free cap space.

[BostonkingsParticipant]

Raef LaFrentz

You over-analyzed the hell out of my statement, too much dude

[surveParticipant]

 Henson is a guy to me who has a high ceiling if he just keeps working.  He is just like Anthony Davis, in being that he is just starting to play in the post in the past 2 years.  He was a guard in HS just 4 years ago.  He improved tremendously while in college and he seems to be a hard worker.  His only issue really is adding weight…the RIGHT way.

[220Participant]

Derrick Williams has to be excited because he may be able to start at sf now that Batum is going back to Portland.

[KingJames00Participant]

I think he will end up being worth the $. Nate Mccmillan’s offense kept is game boggled up. I expect big things from this guy

[MoneyTeam6Participant]

 Easy decision Batum and Aldridge are the 2 cornerstones of the Franchise you couldn’t let him get away and 220 D-Williams isn’t a SF he doesn’t have the range of handle to play that position full time 

[phila9012Participant]

 as a timberwolf fan I am happy for the blazers. they are paying 11 million a year(who also has a 15% trade kicker in his contract, so have fun trying to trade him) to a good starter who can get 14 to 16 points a night. He is over paid, and also why wouldnt the blazers take 1 or 2 first round picks and D-williams who come at a cheaper price and you still get flexibility to get someone this summer or next. To me best case is lives up to it so they would have got what you would expect from that kind of money, worst case he doesnt improve and you are stuck with a contract you can’t trade. (who best money on something when the best case is you breaking even? ). Now the Timberwolves can go out and get 3 or 4 players to add depth and quality to their squad while also keeping the 2 first round picks.

[OldSkoolBasketballParticipant]

there are some reports that the Wolves didn’t offer Derrick Williams at all and that the Blazers had to take back bad contracts. 

[HitsterParticipant]

Once Portland knew they could not prise big Roy Hibbert from the Pacers, they really had to match the Batum offer and with the T-Wolves unable to really set up the contract so Portland had issues with it, this was always a no-brainer.

The T-Wolves have cleared the decks slightly to give Coach Adelman a tighter roster and to allow the younger key players to develop. If they do tie up Brandon Roy and he is sound then combined with Budinger and a new frontcourter then T-Wolves will have had a decent off season.

[mds0549Participant]

So the Wolves lost out on Batum, now it is time to move on Courtney Lee.  Known commodity for Adelman from his houston days and that will hopefully get them the SG they have needed.  Pick up J Hill to help build some depth and Stiesma since they need the back up Center.  Those three should cost them about the same per year as Batum would and other than Lee none will be fore more than a couple of years.  Not the big move they were hoping for but the Wolves need talent and they have more flexibility without having the big contract.

 

[mj23mj23besteverParticipant]

 he wasnt goign anywhere portland let it be known from the start they were matching any offer

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