5 Nicolas Batum SF

Batum accumulated 20 points (7-10 FG, 3-5 3Pt, 3-4 FT), seven rebounds, one assist, one steal and one block across 32 minutes during Tuesday's 125-113 victory over the Heat.

Batum's 20 points marked a season high, as the most he had previously scored was 15 points. However, he struggled as a distributor, handing out just one assist compared to four turnovers.

Batum contributed 15 points (6-8 FG, 3-4 3Pt), six rebounds, five assists, and two steals in 30 minutes during Friday's 120-88 win over the Magic.

Batum saw a team-high minute total and delivered a well-rounded line after struggling with his shot (five points on two-for-eight from the field) in Wednesday's season opener against the Bucks. Batum has never been one to hunt for shots and that's unlikely to change at this stage of his career. However, he maintains his value from doing a little bit of everything, which makes him a valuable commodity across all formats.

Hornets head coach James Borrego said that Batum will primarily play small forward this season, Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer reports.

Batum operated as the Hornets' starting shooting guard the past few years under former coach Steve Clifford. Borrego has already said that Batum and others will need to earn their starting positions. Batum has averaged more than 30 minutes per game in each of his past three seasons with the Hornets and it would be surprising to see that change in 2018, despite the new coach and slight position realignment.

Batum tallied 14 points (5-9 FG, 2-4 3Pt, 2-2 FT), six assists and four rebounds during Tuesday's 119-93 win over Indiana.

This was one of two games in which Batum scored in double figures since Mar. 15 to wrap up the regular season. The 28-year-old's season production of 11.6 points per game drastically declined from last year's total of 15.1 points per contest. Behind Dwight Howard, Batum is the second highest paid Hornets player and is set to make a enormous $24 million in 2018-19 during his third year of his five year contract.

Batum (Achilles) will play and start in Tuesday's matchup with the Bulls, but will be limited to around 20 minutes.

Batum has played through the Achilles injury the last four games, but is clearly dealing with some discomfort considering his listing on the injury report earlier Tuesday. While he's officially been given the go ahead to take the court once again against the Bulls, Batum will still be on a restriction of around 20 minutes, so he can safely be avoided for DFS contests.