Hornets news: Nicolas Batum returns to Charlotte by exercising $27 million player option

Charlotte Hornets swingman Nicolas Batum has elected to exercise his player option for the coming season. He will stay with the team.

While most NBA players will be — and have been — declining their respective player options in order to try to make a little extra money ahead of the 2020-21 campaign, Charlotte Hornets swingman Nicolas Batum has elected to do the exact opposite. According to a Sunday evening report from Shams Charania of Stadium and The Athletic, Batum will indeed exercise his $27.13 million player option for next season when he is allowed to do so on Monday.

Had Batum decided to decline his player option for 2020-21, he would have become an unrestricted free agent and free to sign with any team from around league. Instead, such a move now guarantees than the veteran swingman will remain with the Hornets for the upcoming campaign.

Charlotte’s Nicolas Batum will exercise his $27.13M player option for the 2020-21 season on Monday, sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) November 16, 2020

The soon-to-be 32-year-old Batum more than likely had a pretty easy decision to make here as there is absolutely no way that the former Portland Trail Blazers standout would have garnered just shy of $30 million on the open market. Declining steadily as a member of the Hornets over the course of the last several seasons, Batum appeared in a mere 22 regular season games in 2020-21 — a single-season career-low mark for him. Over that span, he averaged a single-season career-worst 3.6 points per game and started just three contests.

Spending the last five seasons in Charlotte with the Hornets, Batum notably began his NBA playing career with seven seasons as a member of the aforementioned Trail Blazers. Although still a formidable role player, Batum certainly isn't worth the $27.13 million price tag attached to him for 2020-21.

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