Sixers’ Nic Batum to miss Thursday’s game vs. the Toronto Raptors for personal reasons
The Sixers acquired the reserve forward in the blockbuster James Harden trade on Tuesday.
Nic Batum will miss Thursday night’s game against the Toronto Raptors at the Wells Fargo Center because of personal reasons.
The 76ers acquired the reserve forward along with Marcus Morris, Robert Covington, KJ Martin, and draft picks from the Los Angeles Clippers in Wednesday’s blockbuster three-team trade that sent James Harden, P.J. Tucker, and Filip Petrušev to L.A. The Oklahoma City Thunder were the third team. The Clippers later agreed to send Petrušev and cash to the Sacramento Kings.
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Batum, 34, averaged 2.7 points, 2.3 rebounds, 1.0 steal, 1.7 blocks, and 18 minutes in three games with the Clippers this season. The 6-foot-8, 230-pounder is in his 16th season.
Batum has played shooting guard, small forward, and power forward over his career. He is recognized as a solid defender and three-point shooter.
His wife, Lily, appeared to call out the Clippers on a social media post Tuesday morning on X (formerly Twitter) after the trade.
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She shared a quote from Lauren Holiday, the wife of Jrue Holiday, about the Holiday family being caught off guard when the Milwaukee Bucks traded her husband to the Portland Trail Blazers this summer. Holiday was later traded to the Boston Celtics. Lily also included a GIF of Tupac Shakur with the words “Trust nobody.”
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Batum said at his Sixers introductory press conference that his wife woke him up Tuesday to the news that he had been traded.
“Getting the kids ready for school, and she showed me her phone,” he said, “and I got the news.”