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Deveney: Blazers' Nicolas Batum Ranks No. 7 At SF Position

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Sean Deveney of the Sporting News ranks the NBA's top 10 small forwards. Portland Trail Blazers small forward Nicolas Batum checks in at No. 7. ------------------------------- The skinny: Batum’s talent is obvious, but if you watch him enough, you get the sense he should be better than he is. He is long and athletic, with excellent perimeter shooting touch, but he does not like contact. Scouting view: "It would be nice to see him work on a post-up game. He is a good finisher at the rim, he is very good cutting to the basket and finishing. He could create those opportunities in the post. But it is not part of his game and you have to wonder if it ever will be." ------------------------------- Batum trails LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Carmelo Anthony, Paul Pierce, Rudy Gay and Danny Granger. He is ranked one spot ahead of former Blazers forward Gerald Wallace, now with the Brooklyn Nets. -- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com | Twitter