Who's The Better Player

[Coolbreeze44]

Who do you think is better, Nicolas Batum or Lance Stephenson? These two guys are basically one in the same. I'm not sure what Stephenson is making, but It tells me that Batum is taking up way too much cap space.

[kekgeek]

IMO, I think it is Batum and it is not even close, I love watching Lance but just for the entertainment factor, I think Batum is the superior player

[Coolbreeze44]

Kek, what makes him superior? I just don't see it.

[Brandon BassHole [enjin:8183321]]

Lance gets less than a million but hes on his last year of his contract

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

You can credit Kahn for helping to drive up Batum's price! It's funny how fitting the "prototypical" mold can help drive up a player's price. Anyone that's watched Batum knows that he doesn't play especially inspired basketball (he's a good player, but not great). But because he has the prototypical SF physique and skill set, he commanded a premium in the marketplace and arguably ended up being overpaid.

Lance Stephenson is the vastly superior value. He's earning $1M this season. I think Kawhi Leonard, whose barely making more than Lance, is better than either of these guys. Leave it to the Spurs: $1.9M for a top 5 NBA small forward.

[Monster]

I wanted Lance really bad in the draft but I give him and the Pacers a ton of credit for developing him into a very nice player. Batum has been ridiculously overrated by people for years now. He is a nice player but like q said the spurs have 1 player thats superior in Leonard and Danny Green they picked up for nothing and now makes a ton less than Batum and gives you alot of what he does also. I'd say Bantum is the better player between him and Lance but its alot closer than I would have ever imagined at this point regardless of what they make.

[Coolbreeze44]

Good feedback guys, so that leads me to this: Why don't we go after lance in the offseason? I mean if supposedly Batum was such a great fit for us, couldn't Stephenson really help us? And wouldn't he come at a decent price? Is he going to be restricted?

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Cool, Lance is an unrestricted free agent. He's probably played well enough that he will be looking for a much larger contract than we can offer him.

[Coolbreeze44]

Cool, Lance is an unrestricted free agent. He's probably played well enough that he will be looking for a much larger contract than we can offer him.

The MLE wouldn't be nearly enough?

[kekgeek]

First off I don't think Lance is a bad player he has his moments, but I don't want the ball in his hand down the stretch, he plays to much hero ball. I rarely agree with Bill Simmons but I agree with him about Lance after the all star break, after lance got all the praise, he is becoming to much of hero Lance and it is costing them wins (I know there are other reasons behind the Pacers struggles). All but one year Batum has shot a better three point percentage than Stephenson best year. Batum plays a lot more in control and both are pretty good ball handlers. Both are good passers and rebounders. Batum is a superior FT shooter. I believe Batum can play 2 through 4 while IMO Stephanson is only a 2. I also believe Batum is a better defender.

I don't want to come off that Lance is a not a good player, I would rather have Batum, Lance will get Batum type money this offseason, I just don't know if Lance can be an consistent player enough to count on him in the stretch.