A successful drilling operation is heavily dependent on the effectiveness of the drilling fluid's design in use. This study attempts to evaluate the rheological and filtration properties of water-based drilling mud (WBDM) upon the addition of Stearyl Acrylate-Behenyl Acrylate (SABA) copolymer, silicon dioxide (SiO2), and nickel (III) oxide (Ni2O3) nanoparticles. This SABA copolymer-nanofluid was prepared by dissolving the nanofluid in a SABA polymer solution and homogenizing it using ultrasonication. The properties were studied using mud balance, viscometer, and low-pressure low-temperature (LPLT) filter press. The rheological and filtration properties of SABA copolymer were found to imply that it could improve drilling fluid performance. However, the addition of nanoparticles gave a better performance of rheological and filtration properties on WBDM. SABA copolymer with 5000 ppm concentration shows the best performance due to showing the highest viscosity compared to basic drilling fluid. Also, the addition of 800 ppm of Ni2O3 concentration into 5000 ppm of SABA shows the lowest fluid losses. The experimental results indicate that SABA copolymer shows a great potential application and the addition of nanoparticles shows that nanotechnology has a lot of potentials to improve WBM performance