PHILADELPHIA — In his Philadelphia 76ers debut, Nicolas Batum retired the idea that he wouldn’t be there to boost his new team.

Batum made his first four shots and impacted the game on both ends as the Sixers edged the Washington Wizards in a high-scoring contest. He posted a team-high plus-minus of +30 along with 11 points, two rebounds and a steal in 17 minutes.

Following the game, Nick Nurse said that Batum “really just does a lot of things at a high level. He thinks the game, um, he plays both ends. He stretches the floor he can pass…He just does a lot of things that impact the game winning-wise. And it doesn't seem like it's ever a selfish play or any of that kind of stuff. He's just a good basketball player.”

After being traded along with other players and assets in the most recent James Harden trade, Batum had left the Sixers almost immediately to tend to a personal matter. He made it back just a few days ago and stayed ready to contribute to his new team. Joel Embiid really liked what he saw.

“It’s great. Any time you have quick-trigger shooters, it just makes it easier,” Embiid said. “Especially, for me because every team wants to double and send two or three guys at me every single time. Any time you have guys like that that can get it up quick and actually make them, I think it’s great for us and that forces the other team to make a decision. Do you wanna keep doubling? Or are you gonna allow those shots? And we’ll take whatever is available.”

Batum's release on his jump shot is not only quick and high but is something he's comfortable with on the move. Nurse sees the value of someone so big — standing 6-foot-8 with a 7-foot-1 wingspan — being able to shoot such tough shots.

“It's important because I think you're gonna have to have to be able to squeeze those off against really good  teams that are chasing hard,” Nurse said. “And sometimes that's your shot and you gotta be able to get 'em up. You can tell he's put a lot of time into his craft to be able to fly off a screen and get turned around and get his feet set and shoot it so confidently. So, it's nice. Somebody that can do that gives you a whole different kind of section of a playbook of stuff you can run for guys coming off shooting.”

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Batum had a pretty good game for someone who, as he described it, “had no idea like what to do out there.” Being away from the team only delayed his timeline to get ready. He said that it was “fun” to be on Embiid's side rather than on the other side and that Tyrese Maxey will be an All-Star soon.

To start his Sixers tenure, though, Batum's minutes could be inconsistent with Nurse trying to mix and match different guys to see who works the best. But he isn’t worried about that at all.

“I don't care about that,” Batum said of potentially having a different role from game to game. “Starting, off the bench, five, 15, 20 minutes. As long as we're winning games, I'm good. So, that's his job. I mean, that's pretty tough to deal with it, so I don't want to have pressure about it. So anything he asks me to do, I'm gonna do it.”