I agree with observations that Batum's game is going to look worse when he has no help from teammates. As another comparison to Pippen (I don't think Batum is the "next Pippen," that is to say, an inner circle Hall of Famer, but I think the stylistic similarities are striking), Pippen in his later years was more of a facilitator than a first option type. In his athletic prime, he was capable of being a go-to guy. By the time he reached Portland, he was only able to do that in bursts. But what he could do was create flow and make team offense better, due to how well he saw the game.
That's how I see Batum right now. Like late-career Pippen, in that he's not a go-to guy, but he can facilitate team offense. If all his teammates are massively overmatched, though, those skills will largely be wasted. You can't do a lot to facilitate a decimated offense and he's not the kind of guy who can carry an offense on his back.
In order to become a talent the caliber of Pippen, he'll need to become a guy who can be a go-to guy on offense. Right now, I wouldn't project that. But with Roy and, hopefully, a healthy Oden, Portland doesn't need that out of him. If he can be a "flow" guy and a great individual and team defender, he'll be an extremely important part of a championship-caliber core.
