The Portland Trail Blazers weren't bluffing about Nicolas Batum after all.

The Blazers matched Minnesota's four-year offer sheet worth more than $45 million for the restricted free agent, keeping the 23-year-old swingman in Portland just like GM Neil Olshey said they would all along.

Olshey made the announcement on Wednesday in Las Vegas, where the Blazers were participating in the NBA's Summer League. He said that some of the incentives in Minnesota's offer sheet, which would have pushed the deal past $50 million, were denied by the league.

"The decision was made a long time ago," Olshey told reporters in Las Vegas. "We were never not going to have Nicolas back. We did investigate certain things with Minnesota as a due diligence deal. We wanted to make sure we explored every option to improve our basketball team, but there was never a situation where there was a commensurate package offered back that was attractive enough to let Nicolas go."

Portland's move to keep Batum ended a long and occasionally bitter negotiation between the Blazers and the Timberwolves, who were convinced the French player was the missing piece in a young core that already has Kevin Love and Ricky Rubio.

"We are disappointed that Nicolas Batum will not be on our team and wish him the best in the future," Minnesota general manager David Kahn said. "However, we were prepared for the possibility of this outcome and will move forward with our other plans."

Batum left the French national team, which is preparing for the Olympics, to take a physical in Portland scheduled for Thursday.

Blazers owner Paul Allen chimed in on Twitter: "Welcome back Nic! And good luck in the Olympics."

Kahn had been interested in Batum for several years and was aggressive when free agency opened at the start of this month. The Wolves hosted Batum in the first week of July and agreed to terms on an offer sheet on July 6, with Batum's agent saying his client very much preferred Minnesota over staying in Portland.

The Wolves were hoping that the size of the deal coupled with Batum's stated desire to play under Wolves coach Rick Adelman and alongside Love and Rubio would be enough to convince the Blazers to agree to a sign-and-trade to bring the versatile swingman to Minnesota.