Joe Freeman of The Oregonian reports that the Portland Trail Blazers and Bouna Ndiaye, agent for forward Nicolas Batum, will meet on Friday to continue early contract negotiation discussions. ----------------------------- "Basically, we’re looking to see how Nic is thought of with the team and how he fits into the future," Ndiaye said. ----------------------------- The extension deadline is January 25. The Blazers have repeatedly expressed a public desire to re-sign Batum and have said they consider him a "big piece moving forward." Batum is averaging 10.4 points and 5.0 rebounds in eight games off Portland's bench so far this season. He's playing just 23.8 minutes per game, the fewest since he was a 20-year-old rookie. -- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com | Twitter