CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Soon as Nicolas Batum learned he had been traded to the Charlotte Hornets, he called fellow Frenchman Boris Diaw for the low-down.

Diaw told Batum where to go and where to eat. So Friday at Batum’s introductory news conference, someone asked Batum if he would start riding around on a Segway as Diaw did.

“Yes!” Batum joked. “I think I’m going to do the very same thing.”

OK, now we know Batum is playful. Hornets coach Steve Clifford thinks he can be a lot more than that, a lot more than he was as a Portland Trail Blazer.

Clifford told Batum this trade will expand his role. He will no longer be playing with stars LaMarcus Aldridge and Damian Lillard, standing in the corner waiting to take a 3-pointer.

Batum, by his own description, is coming off a bad season. He had a wrist injury and shot 40 percent from the field and 32 percent from 3-point range, the worst such statistics of his seven-season NBA career.

Batum says he was ready for a change. He seems delighted to get a fresh start with the Hornets.

“I know my role is going to be different and I like that,” Batum said. “I know I can do a lot of things on the court; I’m a very versatile player. So me and Kemba (Walker) can do great things together.”

Clifford has major plans. He envisions the 6-foot-8 Batum, who will start at shooting guard, as a primary scoring option next season. Clifford imagines running offense through Batum similarly to how the Orlando Magic did with small forward Hedo Turkoglu when Clifford was an assistant there.

The Hornets gave up a lot for Batum, sending shooting guard Gerald Henderson and power forward Noah Vonleh to Portland on Wednesday night. Henderson averaged 12.1 points in 80 games last season, while Vonleah, the Hornets’ top pick (ninth overall) in 2014, averaged 3.3 points in 25 games his rookie season.

“I was very excited when I heard Charlotte was interested in me. I felt like I could take this in another direction,” Batum said. “This is going to be a good, good team. Jeremy (Lamb) is a good player. We’ve got Kemba and Big Al (Jefferson) already. And Frank (Kaminsky) was the best player in all of college.”