LOS ANGELES, CA — In one of their first moves in the immediate aftermath of Paul George's departure, the LA Clippers reunited with an old in Nicolas Batum.

On Monday morning, Batum and the Clippers agreed to a new deal that would bring the French forward back to Los Angeles, a source confirmed to ClutchPoints. ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski was first to report the news of Batum's return on a two-year, $9.6 million deal.

Woj's report initially had Batum back on a two-year, $10 million deal, but it was quickly changed to two-year, $9.6 million, indicating that Batum would be taking the Clippers' bi-annual exception worth $4.8 million.

Batum Batallion Returns

Batum's return marks a reunion of two sides who never wanted to part ways in the first place. The Clippers traded Nicolas Batum as part of the James Harden trade package on the final day of October 2024. The French forward fully intended to retire a Clipper, but the Sixers complicated matters when they insisted on including PJ Tucker in any Harden deal.

As ClutchPoints reported in February, there was essentially no James Harden deal to the Clippers that the Sixers would agree to without the inclusion of PJ Tucker as well. There were contracts on the Clippers that fit into a Harden deal that would've also allowed them to retain Nicolas Batum.

Additionally, a big reason for the delay in getting a Harden deal done was because the Clippers were trying to find ways not to take Tucker's contract on, including potentially re-routing him to a third team as part of the trade, per source. ClutchPoints NBA insider Brett Siegel reported on this and the James Harden trade in detail at the time of its completion.

Facing a time crunch to get a deal done, the Clippers were forced to complete the deal. Batum, along with Marcus Morris, Robert Covington, and KJ Martin, went to Philadelphia while James Harden and PJ Tucker were sent to Los Angeles.

The trade was tougher than any other trade he's been a part of.

“Definitely, yes,” Batum told ClutchPoints. “Yes, because it's during the season. You have two kids in school, you've got a wife. You've got everything set up, and you don't really plan for it. And when I heard [rumors about the trade], I wasn't supposed to be part of it anyway.

“But you gotta do your job. You gotta do your job, so you move on. I mean, I never asked to leave. I was good where I was, so just to be in that situation when someone else [requested a trade], you know? And it's different, you know? I'm like, yeah, but I have nothing to do with it, but this is the NBA. I mean, that's what you get paid for, that's the wrong side. But like I said, I got moved to a good team as well. So, you know, I still got a role, I'm still playing. It's not like I got benched right away. No, I was starting. I was playing a lot. I'm still playing a lot though.”

Nicolas Batum had previously expressed his desire to retire in Los Angeles as a member of the Clippers, which made the trade an even more difficult pill to swallow. He's back now, however, and has a chance to do so with this deal.

Batum declined a chance to return to the Philadelphia 76ers and new star Paul George, who Batum was teammates with in Los Angeles. Joel Embiid was strongly pushing for Batum's return, sources told ClutchPoints.  The Golden State Warriors and Milwaukee Bucks were also among the teams interested in Batum's services.

Batum, however, still has his family based out of Los Angeles and calls it home. Additionally, Batum's familiarity with the Clippers organization and close relationship with head coach Tyronn Lue as well as some of the front office staff members played a part in his desire to return to Los Angeles.

In his three seasons with the LA Clippers, Batum averaged 7.3 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 1.8 assists per game on 44.9 percent shooting from the field and 39.7 percent from three. His value, of course, goes beyond just the box score. Every once in a while, however, he's able to turn back the clock like he did in Game 4 against the Miami Heat this past postseason.