2008 NBA Draft Preview: Nicolas Batum

Nicolas Batum is going to one of the just a few international basketball players that will be a member of the 2008 NBA Draft class. Nicolas is a native of Lisieux, France, and is currently playing basketball in a professional international basketball league for Le Maris Jarth Basket, which is a French team. He is 19 and stands 6-8.

Nicolas Batum has several strengths on the basketball court that have allowed him to shine on the international stage. He exhibits impressive finishing ability when shooting and has a strong mid-range game. Nicolas is extremely aggressive when playing perimeter defense and powerful when cutting to the basket. His most remarkable part of his game is his transition play. These are just some of the reasons why many NBA teams would like to add Nicolas Batum to their rosters.
He does have some weaknesses in his current skill bank. Nicolas plays extremely clean basketball and avoids contact with other players and tends to play in an extremely passive manner. His ball-handling and perimeter shooting skills can use a large amount of improvement. Nicolas Batum's most lacking part of his game is that he is a horrible rebounder, which is a component of his game which he needs to focus on, in order to be successful in the NBA.

Numerous sports and news related websites have released their mock drafts for 2008, in which they have published their predictions for when each player will be selected and what teams those players will be drafted by. NBC Sports has listed Nicolas Batum as No. 16 on their mock draft and believe that he will be drafted by the Toronto Raptors. Yet, collegehoopsnet.com placed him as No. 15 in their mock draft and have predicted that Nicolas Batum will be becoming part of the Phoenix Suns.