Nicolas Batum Might Have a Bad Ticker

When the 2008 NBA mock drafts began to surface this time last year, French swinger Nicolas Batum floated around the top 5 picks, built on the back of his silky-smart style and solid performance against American high school kids. He has slowly, slowly drifted toward the late first round, and this week had been placed in the #15-25 range in most legit mocks.

It looks like that damaged stock is going down down down again, as ESPN's Chad Ford reports tests in both Toronto and New Jersey showed problems with Nico's heart. Batum didn't work out in either town because of the concerns -- a "stress echo test" reported "borderline" -- and some troubling, rumored family history that Ford passes on.

A Sports Illustrated report in February said that Batum's father, Henry, suffered a "massive heart attack" and died at the free throw line while playing pro basketball in France when Nicolas was 2 years old.

Batum's agent says the cause of death was actually an aneurysm, according to Nico's mom. Barring any sort of official information, it's impossible to know the truth here. But if Nico's dad did indeed die young of a massive heart attack while playing basketball, and Nico has tested "borderline" on two separate heart health tests ... yeah, that's not good for anyone.

The NBA's been rife with heart troubles the past few years, between Eddy Curry's uninsurable ticker, LaMarcus Aldridge's irregular heartbeats, and Ronny Turiaf's open-heart surgery. Those have all worked out for the teams who took the chance, but Batum has enough other warts that I can't imagine a team risking a first-rounder on it. It's too bad, because he's an awesome talent and by several reports a nice fellow.