"The agent for Nicolas Batum wants the Trail Blazers to give his client a contract extension, and he wants the team to pay big money.

You can see why after Batum had a dynamic night Saturday in Houston, finishing with 29 points, eight rebounds and four spectacular blocks.

On the other side of the bargaining table, the Blazers want to give Batum a contract extension, but they want to pay what they believe is a fair price. If I was to hazard a guess, I would venture the Blazers wouldn't want to pay him any more than $7 million a season.

And you can see why after Saturday's 107-105 overtime loss to Houston, when Batum didn't attempt a shot for the final 6:52 of regulation and not until he scored off an inbound lob with 8.2 seconds left in overtime.

Now before everyone starts pointing fingers at coach Nate McMillan for not calling plays for Batum or ensuring Batum got shots down the stretch, realize two things: One, even Batum admits he wasn't open a lot down the stretch. Two, when the game is on the line, you go to your best player. For the Blazers, that's LaMarcus Aldridge. The Blazers went to him. He got open shots. Wide open shots. He missed most of them, going 3-for-8 in the fourth quarter and overtime. "