Travis Outlaw Adjusting to Life in LA

[Driew]

Good read.

Liked this part the most:

The Blazers traded Outlaw and Steve Blake to the Clippers for center Marcus Camby Feb. 16. The trade ended Outlaw's stay with the only team he had played for during his first seven seasons in the NBA.

Outlaw saw the logic to the trade and isn't bitter at all.

"I looked at the trade and it definitely made sense to do it," Outlaw said by telephone from Los Angeles. "Portland did need a big (player) and Marcus Camby is a great big man. He's a shot-blocker and a rebounder. That was the area where Portland was hurting in. So I thought it was a great move."

 

[PtldPlatypus]

Good read.

Liked this part the most:

He's just too happy-go-lucky of a guy to hold a grudge. Hopefully he won't get any offers this summer better than MLE, and KP will bring him back.

 

[Natebishop3]

He's just too happy-go-lucky of a guy to hold a grudge. Hopefully he won't get any offers this summer better than MLE, and KP will bring him back.

So he can sit on our bench and not play?

 

[Draco]

So he can sit on our bench and not play?

He'd definitely be playing behind Batum but he could easily get minutes before Martell or Cunningham.

I mean it just depends what other free agents are out there and how much he is being offered. If nobody better is available Outlaw would be an upgrade over our 15th man so in that case I'd rather see us sign him than sign a Travis Diener.

 

[Natebishop3]

He'd definitely be playing behind Batum but he could easily get minutes before Martell or Cunningham.

Is Outlaw a small forward though? I thought he was logging his minutes at the four these days.

 

[Nikolokolus]

He'd definitely be playing behind Batum but he could easily get minutes before Martell or Cunningham.

I mean it just depends what other free agents are out there and how much he is being offered. If nobody better is available Outlaw would be an upgrade over our 15th man so in that case I'd rather see us sign him than sign a Travis Diener.

Travis is definitely not a 'fifteenth man' talent, he's probably more like sixth or seventh, and there doesn't appear to be much room left in what will hopefully (eventually) be an 8 or 9 man rotation, and Portland is almost certain not to pay him what the market is likely to offer him in free agency this summer -- after all there are about 12 max contract slots for free agents and maybe only 3 or 4 max contact worthy talent free agents. Those dollars are going to be spent somewhere.

 

[SlyPokerDog]

Is Outlaw a small forward though? I thought he was logging his minutes at the four these days.

I think Outlaw already answered this question.

"I looked at the trade and it definitely made sense to do it," Outlaw said by telephone from Los Angeles. "Portland did need a big (player) and Marcus Camby is a great big man. He's a shot-blocker and a rebounder. That was the area where Portland was hurting in. So I thought it was a great move."

Even Outlaw knows it doesn't matter if he plays the 3 or 4 he's not going to help us in those areas.

 

[SlyPokerDog]

From the same article,

"The coaches let me go out there and make my own mistakes," Outlaw said. "They give you a lot of leeway. This is good for me. It shows another set of my skills."

Only Outlaw was consider mistakes as part of his skill set.

 

[maxiep]

It sounds like Travis finally figured out there are lots of hot asian chicks and strip clubs in LA.

 

[oldguy]

Whether you like or hate his play, Trav is a class act!

Go Blazers

 

[THE HCP]

I wish him luck. I have a feeling he will be elsewhere when training camp rolls around. I always thought he would be very effective in Golden State or Phoenix's up and down offense.

 

[andalusian]

If someone pays stupid amounts of money for Rudy Gay (and this is not going to be a surprise if this happens, as there are more teams with tons of cap than there are players worth it) - I would not be surprised to see Memphis overpay Travis to come play the Rudy Gay role - and him accepting because it would be lots of money and close to his family.

 

[mook]

"Portland did need a big (player) and Marcus Camby is a great big man. He's a shot-blocker and a rebounder"

Man is that an ironic statement. When he entered the league Outlaw could do absolutely nothing but sky for rebounds and blocks.

If he'd somehow maintained those two skills while adding his current jumpshot, he'd be worth a lot more to any team.

Anyway, I can't remember the last time I read a quote where the player said, "Yeah, they were better off without me." Kind of refreshing. I always liked his personality.

 

[Mediocre Man]

It's nice to see that he has a coach that can get through to him about not settling for jump shots. Travis could be a really good player if he took the ball to the rim more often.

Travis implies that he has more leeway from his coach to make mistakes, right after he talks about trying ot get to the rim. I realize Nate's offense is set up to create jumpers, but I don't think he yanks people who try to create and get to the rim.

 

[mook]

If someone pays stupid amounts of money for Rudy Gay (and this is not going to be a surprise if this happens, as there are more teams with tons of cap than there are players worth it) - I would not be surprised to see Memphis overpay Travis to come play the Rudy Gay role.

I don't know if he goes there, but he reminds me a little of Hedo last spring. You could just see some team is destined to pay him a stupid amount of money and almost immediately regret it. Hopefully it isn't the Blazers.

 

[andalusian]

I don't know if he goes there, but he reminds me a little of Hedo last spring. You could just see some team is destined to pay him a stupid amount of money and almost immediately regret it. Hopefully it isn't the Blazers.

Blazers can't overpay him more than the MLE - so even if they tried, they would be limited in their stupidity, I think.

$5m/year (what Webster got) for Travis is a good way to get him. If the Blazers can do that - they score. He is worth it. Much over it would be silly.

 

[mook]

Blazers can't overpay him more than the MLE - so even if they tried, they would be limited in their stupidity, I think.

$5m/year (what Webster got) for Travis is a good way to get him. If the Blazers can do that - they score. He is worth it. Much over it would be silly.

Yeah, he's probably worth that price on some teams.

At this point, though, I'd rather just have Cunningham take those minutes. He's not as good as Outlaw when Outlaw is on fire, but he doesn't suck nearly as much as when Outlaw sucks.

I think we just had a thread about this subject.

 

[KingSpeed]

I'm definitely going to be going to a few Clippers games every season. I hope Blake Griffin gets better and the Clippers make the playoffs next season. A Clippers-Lakers series would be fun.