THE The Philadelphia 76ers made a big trade early in the 2023-24 season when they sent James Harden in a package at the The Los Angeles Clippers in exchange for Nic BatoumMarcus Morris Sr., Robert CovingtonKJ Martin and a series of draft picks.

Batum, in particular, has been a big part of the Sixers’ playmaking, shooting, and willingness to do whatever coach Nick Nurse has asked of him. He scored a whopping 20 points in the play-in tournament win over the Sixers. Miami Heat and he shot 39.9 percent from three-point range in 57 games with 38 starts for the Sixers.

In the offseason, Batum returned to Los Angeles to join the Clippers in an expected move given that his family was still there. Los Angeles. However, according to ESPN’s Tim Bontemps on “The Hoop Collective” podcast, Batum was set to return to Philadelphia:

They were really close to getting Nic Batum back. He was on the fence about, at least from what I understand, going back to Philly or going back to the team that traded him (the Clippers and I think his family played a role in him going back to the Clippers) and he was pretty comfortable in LA.

It would have been nice for Philadelphia to have Batum back on the team. The Sixers could have brought him back into their lineup as a backup power forward or something like that because of his size. However, he wanted to go back to LA and be with his family and you can’t blame him for doing that.

This article was originally published on Sixers Wire: Report: Nic Batum was close to Sixers return before joining Clippers

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