Charlotte Hornets: Nicolas Batum’s Shooting Slump Worsens
Nicolas Batum’s January shooting slump has reached a new low. Can he snap out of it in time to get the Charlotte Hornets back into contention for a playoff spot?
The Charlotte Hornets just can’t get over the hump. Whenever they take a step forward, they inevitably take two steps back. Friday evening they took on the mediocre Portland Trail Blazers with a chance to bring them one game away from a .500 winning percentage heading into Sunday night’s road trip finale against the Los Angeles Lakers.
The game also brought the return of Hornets starting small forward and defensive anchor Michael Kidd-Gilchrist. Optimism was at an all-time high for Hornets fans. Things finally appeared to be breaking their way. Then Charlotte laid a big fat egg — a 109-81 beatdown courtesy of those feisty Trail Blazers, which ended any hopes that the Hornets would finish this Western Conference road trip back at .500.
Getting healthy is the first step to this team reaching its ceiling, but they also need Nicolas Batum to get back on track. His shot has been slumping for quite some time, and despite his playmaking and solid defense, it’s starting to become a problem.
The struggles likely date back to Dec. 28 when he went down with a toe injury against the Lakers. Initially, he tried to play through it, but the poor shooting has followed ever since.
More from Charlotte Hornets
- Brandon Miller, not Victor Wembanyama, is the rookie to watch in 2023
- 5 players who will challenge Victor Wembanyama for Rookie of the Year
- Ranking the 10 championship-less NBA teams by closeness to title
- 4 Reasons drafting Scoot Henderson should be a no-brainer for Hornets
- Ranking the 5 best available power forwards in 2023 NBA free agency
In January, Batum is averaging 8.8 points per game on 31.9 percent from the floor and 28.3 percent from outside. His turnovers per game are up to 3.4. Turnovers have been an issue for him all season, but his scoring and creativity have made up for it. That’s not the case anymore.
Batum has played in only nine of Charlotte’s 16 games in January (the Hornets are 2-7 in Batum’s nine games) and has failed to shoot above 45 percent from the field in all but one of them. Friday’s game against the team where he started his career was rock bottom.
Against Portland, Batum scored only three points on 1-for-11 shooting. He had eight assists, but those were offset but six turnovers. That followed a 2-for-9 performance two nights earlier against the Utah Jazz. Batum’s last quality game came Jan. 15 against the Pelicans when he scored 25 points on 11-for-22 shooting.
Batum’s full season shooting line has taken a hit because of this slump. He’s currently averaging 14.6 points, 6.3 rebounds and 5.4 assists per game on 40.4 percent from the field and 34.5 percent from three-point line.
Twenty games into the season Batum was averaging 17.2 points per game and knocking down 40.4 percent of this three-point attempts. Charlotte needs that Batum back, the Batum that was likely to command a maximum level contract after the season.
It’s unclear whether Batum’s struggles indicate that he is not completely healed from his nagging toe injury or it’s just the rust that comes from missing several games in a row. Whatever the problem is, Charlotte needs him to figure it out and quickly.
They’re a better offensive team when he’s on the floor (their offensive rating is 106.5 with Batum and 103.1 without), but at some point the poor shooting and ball security issues are going to force Steve Clifford to make some tough decisions. That means pulling Batum in crunch-time or even sitting him until his toe is back to 100 percent.
Charlotte doesn’t have a superstar. Their margin of error is slim and they need a full roster with every player performing their role to be successful. It’s been over month since all their parts were healthy and functioning properly.
Next: 10 Landing Spots for Blake Griffin
Players like Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Al Jefferson returning from injury will fix much of what ails the Hornets, but if they’re going to get back into playoff contention, they need Nicolas Batum to return to his early season form.