he laughs at all these questions because he already has it planned out elaborately. Hopefully the love the fans have for Travis is enough for him to cherish his role, we all know the pay is good. It does make me nervous to think about what’s going to happen to guys like Martell, Outlaw, Bayless, and Rudy if they feel they aren’t the big stars on the team as it rises to the top. I think too many fans (including me) think that the promise of more money and playing time can draw a player away from a team that’s winning. I think Outlaw is more worried about being traded from a winning situation than whether or not he wants to stick around as a 6th man. I think 6th man is on a championship team is better than super star on a losing team.

“I don’t want to be a sixth man forever,” Outlaw says.

I hate to say but this article was a bit of an eye opener for me in regards to where Travis is at. I understand where he is coming from and can sympathise with him as well, but hopefully after this year and his first taste of the playoffs will change his view a little.

This is truly the greatest time to be a Blazer fan, yes we have won championships and pushed deep into the playoffs but with those accomplishments came increased expectations. With this team right now, no one knows what the future will bring and we are left running over the possibilities of the beginnings of our dynastic run, how well Oden, Bayless, Rudy and everyone else will play together. We envision all of the players, sans Ike and Raef, remaining with the team for the next decade and becoming the players and team that we are all imagining in these times when the next team that will win us a championship has even played 1 second together.

This upcoming season will be fun as the team is still fleshing out who plays well with the big 3 and that will be the determiner on who goes and who stays, and as much as I like Travis, a tiny part of me wants for him to go to another team and be the man and get the big contract and the accolades as I feel he deserves them all. But the majority of me is greedy and wants Travis to remain a Blazer forever, our super 6th man, Mr. 4th Quarter, and able to light up any player on a Sportcenter highlight reel dunk.

Unfortunatly that is not up to me and only Travis will be able to make that descision, whether to have personal accolades or to play on a team that is going to win a lot of games over the next decade.

Although I do throw 1 caveat in there:

When we win our 1st, 2nd, 3rd or 4th champiohship with this team all bets are off and the big 3 will remain and anyone who wants to get a championship will sign for the minimum, as we are the only team that is getting them. Chris Paul would look good i Blazer scarlett and black and oh yeah he signs for only $2mill/yr so he can get his ring in 2014.

Get here soon season.

I’ve been there on business travel quite a lot, and honestly you would have a better chance to drive your Ferrari at 120 in Idaho or Iowa. Okay, it’s not legal, but even there while you legally can go as fast as you can on some smaller and smaller stretches you would have to prove an accident couldn’t be avoided at a slower speed if you drive more than 80 mph. Most cross-country roads are crowded with trucks and traffic jams since the market to Eastern Europe opened. On the weekend in some remote corners you might have a change to drive 120 for a longer time, but if you want to drive a race car at top speed it’s easier to go on a closed circuit.

Oh, and gas costs $2. Per liter. That’s about $7.50 per gallon. You better have an NBA-type salary if you want to drive around just for fun in a big SUV or sports car there.

It may be me but not sure why we need to be reminded about how great a writer we have in Quick – odd way to start. I actually dont mind his human stories but he is terrible in the next day game recaps in the Oregonian – he tries to throw a human story into every one and I can tell by the start it is him without looking at the credit – just give the dang recap.

Tom Ziller from NBA FanHouse has this to say: “Outlaw will never average 15 FGAs a night on this team”
and “He deserves to shoot jumpers like layups somewhere. Maybe he’ll get that opportunity in the next year or so.”
http://nba.fanhouse.com/2008/09/01/why-shouldnt-travis-outlaw-feel-squeezed/

ESPN player card: Status Alert: Outlaw expects his scoring opportunities to drop with Rudy Fernandez and Jerryd Bayless joining him on the second unit, the Oregonian reports.

Some blogs just excerpt the Oregonlive article, and interpret it only in their headlines:
Hoopsworld: “Travis Outlaw questions the future”
Hoopsvibe: “Travis Outlaw unhappy with role?”
RealGM: “Portland’s Outlaw Wants To Be A Starter”
HoopsHype: “Bigger role? Bigger role? Blazers forward Travis Outlaw is not content remaining with the status quo of his game, according to the Oregonian”

Seems like quite a few people outside of Portland read (or would like to read) this article as “Outlaw is currently not happy with the Blazers”. Some teams might call KP to try and get them some Outlaw.

I agree with Dave on this one.

Remember, too, this is a business. Any NBA fan is looking at wins, losses, and playoffs. Any NBA player is looking at those things but he’s also looking at his own paycheck and future at the same time.

Even here, as a I sit in my cubicle I gave out at the vast sea of featureless cubicles and I think to myself: “Self, what are you doing here and what are all of these other people doing here?” When I new gets hired and he gets a cube—or God Forbid an OFFICE!!—I think unavoidably to myself: “Self, there are a couple more sweet gravy projects going in some other direction.”

This doesn’t mean I want the company to fail. But I do want the much smaller enterprise of ME to do well.

Any NBA player has to think of his own minutes and his own shots. In fact, I would imagine most NBA players equate minutes and shots directly to future paychecks.

What this article gives to me—for which I thank JQ—is a glimpse into the mind of the player on the business side of the NBA. That’s the side that is so divorced from the pristine and idealized fantasy of the average fan. Just like the baby boomer gets worried when the new Gen Y hire walks in the door, so Travis gets a bit worried when he sees hot young draft picks come in with a defined set of minutes and shots up for grabs.

It reveals to me a business side and thirst among players simmering under the constraints of coaches and systems ready to boil out in an explosion of individual “investment” in the form of ball-hogging and shots. Remind anyone of a Blazers team not so long ago?

Don’t blame Travis for that. Just pray that the system and culture that KP and Nate are putting together will be adequate to mitigate the negative consequences of the all-too-human individual focus.

Here’s hoping it helps quell some of the disturbing anti-Outlaw sentiment Quick’s article unfortunately generated. Poor Travis. He’ll probably now be forever reluctant to reveal anything real within him. Fans will have to get used to a steady diet of predictable, boring, canned responses that were the trademark of Drexler and so many other NBA’ers.

Why was I not informed that Aug. 26 was Travis Outlaw Day?
I would have painted a big red #25 outside my apt and spoke with a folksy ah-shucks drawl all day long.
Next year I’m throwing a big TO25 party … y’all are invited.

-Mat

First of all he’s only an average (44% career, 43% last season) shooter. Secondly, there are SO MANY OTHER THINGS he could be concentrating on to help this team. Rebounding. Defense. Ball handling. Passing.

Meh, I’m not going to read too much into it but I’ve always wondered about Travis’s head and whether or not it will allow him to become a star. Unlike some folks, I don’t think all it takes to be a star is jumping ability.

because he saw Kobe make a cool face one time is…troubling…

T-E-A-M imo

the team would score around 110 to 114 a game. The Blazers should note have to send as many people to the boards this next year as they have in the past, Oden will take care of most of the heavy lifting in the paint. Which means that they will have more shots in the open court, which in my mind means more shots for Trout. For Trout’s sake, I hope all the talk about opening up the offence and running more happens this year.

P.S. Larry Miller…..Get the Comcast / Dish 500 deal done!!!

Good analysis of the article. One thing I’d like to state is that in the past Outlaw was criticized, by some, for being too passive. Now he’s gained some confidence, now he want’s some shots and is thinking he can be more than a 6th man. This really isn’t a problem, I think it’s growth. Dave sites a conversation between Drazen Petrovich and Danny Ainge to site different players attitudes at different stages in their careers. Well keep in mind we ended up trading Petrovich away. If Outlaw develops a similar dissatifaction with his available role we might have to trade Outlaw away, for Outlaws good as well as the teams. However, I think it’s premature. Outlaw is loyal to those around him, his family and friends. Right now I just hear some confidence that I think is good for Outlaw. Let’s see if he can carve out a role on this team that he is happy with, and that the team is happy with. The growth of a talented player can become a situation a team has to adjust to but it’s the type of problem you like to have. If Outlaw becomes too good, or unhappy as a result of his perceived role then immediately it becomes a challenge for Nate McMillan and failing that perhaps then a challenge for Kevin Pritchard. However we aren’t at that stage yet and we may never be.

not what he says. If he starts playing like he’s talking, the team and he are in trouble. If he does what he did last season and does it better, adds a new skill/weapon, all is good. I think that’s what we’ll see.

I also think Travis is voicing a sentiment echoed by others on the team. I have to disagree with Royster’s breakdown of which player wants which minutes. I doubt there is even one player on the team who doesn’t want to start and play big minutes.

I hope we win the championship this year so everyone stays relatively happy and gets a ring with the Blazers before KP starts consolidating the roster.

… of Travis, Rudy and Bayless happy is going to be a bigtime challenge. I’d be shocked if all 3 of those guys is on our first championship team.

some of this goes away. Not that I’m advocating that, really.

You know, someone who can effectively shoot the “forgotten mid-range jumper” that sportswriters are forever talking about (“everyone wants to shoot 3s or dunk”) is very valuable. Sure, Aldridge and Frye can shoot the mid-range jumper, and Roy as well, but Outlaw possesses a unique ability to get that shot off all the time. And the fact that he views it as easy as a lay-in is a positive in my mind.

is the part where Outlaw says, “I don’t know if they are going to be able to keep us together.”

My hope for Outlaw is that he develops an understanding that he can be a star in this league as the sixth man. Look at Ginobli with the Spurs. Travis can be that kind of an impact player. In fact, I would argue that he has a greater chance to be a star from the second unit at this point in his career than he does with the first – this is why. If he’s playing alongside Oden, Roy and Aldridge (which he will sometimes too), he has to fight for touches and scoring opportunities. As the sixth man, he will quite often be the primary scorer – the main option for the team. Other than the ego thing, he might be better off on the second team if the Blazers can prove that they are one of the elite teams in the league.

Another point that should be said is this. Outlaw has the physical tools to be as great as Kobe, Wade or James. I don’t know that anyone would argue that point. But not all great athletes are great basketball players. If he focuses in on what will make him a great player, McMillan won’t be able to deny giving Outlaw all of the minutes and shots he can handle. So Travis, we want you here…but be smart about where you look for your answers. They may lie inside of you.

OK….that’s my only concern…..falling in love with the jump shot. Why, oh why, once some players develop a decent jump shot, do they invariably fall in love with it, to the exclusion of the lay-up/dunk?

It’s as if they want to show what great shooters they are, only to ignore their best tools… Case in point, Rasheed Wallace. How many times when he was a Blazer and now with the Pistons, does he drift outside and jack up 3s? He could demolish people down low. And I hope the same does not happen with Travis. As a person, Travis seems like the anti-Sheed. I just hope he remembers to take advantage of his incredible physical talents down low and make the opposition 3s look slow and lame….that would make him the anti-Sheed on the court as well.

Travis’ comments are provocative at best, definitely nothing to be alarmed about.

When I used to manage my staff and there annual reviews, I told them if they don’t rate themselves high, neither will I. If you don’t believe your great, why should I?

Travis has game, he wants to showcase it. It can be channeled and developed and be a huge asset to the Blazers for years to come. It doesn’t seem that long ago a restless 24 year old Blazer named Drexler wanted a bigger role too. That didn’t work out too shabby in the end, did it?

Sounds like his agent talking for Travis…..Travis surely does not understand what he is talking about….This guy should understand one thing….on this team you earn your spots and roles…You have the tools, but you are on a “Team”…as soon as you put your own personal goals first, you become a detriment to everything…Anthony is a good example…His team will never win a championship if he is the “go to guy”…Get a clue, Travis. You are on a building team with the weakest position at the 3…Why is it the weakest position?….because it is occupied by you and Webster…The Blazers have shown a lot of patience with you and Webster….Your obviously not mature enough to return the favor…I don’t see you diving on the floor for loose balls or having relentless pursuit of the ball on rebounds…You should of went to college, they could have taught you a lot about life …If you want to be a starter…that is a great goal…Go out and earn it, because you haven’t yet. You better get it done soon..You got your minutes on a bad team…Now this team is getting better….So you better keep up