It’s amazing that the anti-Trout sentiment hasn’t reached a din yet. All the uneducated fans who come to games for T-shirt Guns and free Chalupas love Outlaw because what, he jumps high? I’ll never understand it. You have 11 fundamentally sound players and one offensive black hole. Wake up! Nate obviously has a blind-spot to his deficiency, or a soft-spot because the kid just ain’t that bright. Either way, we need to put him on the Darius Miles plan of bench-to-boot.

I’m wondering if Nate’s comments through the media were in part made to set up what could be epic battles between two very different style teams in practices this year:

Blake, BRoy, Martell, LA, Pryz
vs.
Dre, Rudy, Batum, Travis, Oden

I tell ya, that second unit will put some points on the board… Question will be can Grag and Nic play adequate 2:4 D to stop more than they make…

Travis’s comment far more grating than Greg (but I suppose I don’t have an agenda against Greg) as Travis has repeatedly come into camp out of shape not due to physical injury or not being cleared by doctors, but simply because he tends to take the summer off to relax completely. So to work out hard for a contract year when the effort (besides retooling his jumper) was not there in the past for such things as defense, ball movement, oh and putting a body on his guy so he could get a rebound or prevent them from getting it unhindered..

Greg and Travis were equally stark in honesty with their comments, but I’m glad to see that “If Mars Money turns out to be his number one priority, and I wouldn’t blame him for that at all” only applies to one guy.

But I don’t buy it. He needs to remember how Ime walked into Portland and took the starter position from him and Martell. Batum is too hungry and too good for these cutsey “get paid” comments. Best player will be on the court.

Talk is cheap, Travis. You better back that chatter up. Nic is the real deal.

hits the wrong nerve with me too, but I remember in Quick’s feature on Trout there were quotes in there that hit the same wrong nerve, and Trout later said that he’s a sarcastic guy and that doesn’t come across well in writing. I bet it’s the same thing here.

Yeah, he probably does have overinflated expectations and hopefully he’s working hard to fulfill them instead of hoping they just happen. He does need to go elsewhere to get decent minutes and I’m hoping he’ll bring something nice back in return. But what? I’d say the best thing might just be a first-round pick, since it’s a great trading chip and doesn’t add to a still-full roster.

Have you heard him speak in person? Which form of communication does he thrive in? Morse code? Telepathy? American Sign Language?

or else he would be gone. I think Pritch/Nash took a flyer on this guy coming out of HS, and the risk just didn’t pan out. They can’t all pan out. If you look at the players that Pritch pursues, the player Travis has become doesn’t fit that mold.

How is Greg saying “Its a contract year” grating? Hard to tell just from words but just seems like something said half in jest and for motivation. As for Outlaw, wow, he proabably won’t be with this team after this year unless the market is really bad. I doubt he’ll start chucking desperatley to pad his stats, Outlaw ironically will play unselfish for selfish reasons. The more unselfishly he plays and good shot selection he takes the more minutes he gets and in the end more money he makes, He’s not stupid. Way to make a big deal out of nothing Golliver.

I

Ben might post it on the site and pick it apart.

I know there are a ton of fake accounts on Twitter from people claiming to be an athlete or celebrity. Do we actually know if this is the real Travis Outlaw?

I would not be surprised to see a sign and trade with Travis next year. I really believe that he’ll have solid market value, and if we don’t trade him mid-season, he’s spent the last of his time with Portland.

That being said, its less about what he can’t do, and more about what others can. Martell is going to come into camp more motivated than Travis is, and Nicolas is going to come into camp with newfound offensive skills, that will make Travis expendable. I love Travis, he’s just settled too much for the jump shots, even though he can make them. Our 2nd unit had spacing problems all last year, simply because we had 4 guys outside, and 1 inside. If Nicolas has indeed developed his midrange game, then I would expect to see Travis playing the 4, where his defensive inabilities are exploited.

He’ll still be able to score enough to attract some buyers, and in the end, I see him being traded to a team like New Jersey, or Miami, for an expiring contract or two. It’ll ease the pressure on Nate to find minutes for everyone, and also give us flexibility for the big offseason of 2010, where Darius Miles finally comes off our books. That combined with a few expiring contracts would give us enough to be players in the market. If some of these big name guys really are all about winning, then Portland would most certainly be a great destination.

Work hard and learn to rebound and maybe you actually will get a really good contract.

Ben, Greg’s statement had absolutely nothing to do with whether the Blazers pick up the option on his contract. Next summer, he is going to be exactly where LMA is right now — talking to Portland about his next contract, and looking to sign an extension. This is his year to prove it should be a big dollar amount. In effect, for Greg this is a contract year.

It seems equally likely to me that Martell could be the odd man out. He hasn’t really played in over a year so we don’t know what to expect from him. He might suck, get benched on merit and not injury, and open up time for Outlaw. Plus Outlaw is more useful right now because he can play PF and SF, whereas Martell contributes to the logjam at SF and SG.

In short, at this point, I’ll take Travis’ versatility and reliability more than Martell’s. And I know that comment will catch some fire, but Travis is reliable. We know exactly what to expect from him and he usually delivers. Plus, I would say he’s won more games down the stretch than he’s lost.

I can’t believe we’re all arguing over a freakin’ tweet. Seriously, this is why Portland needs a baseball team.

As I watch players like Sessions and Felton increasingly getting pushed down into the $4 million – $5 million expected contract category, and Lee being moved into the $6 million to $7 million category, I can’t help but wonder if Travis’s future isn’t controlled as much my the economy, as by his performance.

Last year he had the opportunity to start – but never established himself in that role, and even though he has had solid value to the Blazers off the bench, you have to wonder if most other GM’s won’t wonder whether or not he can be an effective starter – or if he will always be a better 6th or 7th man. And, of course, if that is a general league concensus, then if will be difficult for him to get starting money for a backup role. And, let’s face it, he had no competition on the Blazers for that starting role – other than one very young and inexperienced Frenchman – Batum. The issue for Travis then, will be that teams may be increasingly reluctant – or simply unable – to pay $5 million or more for second team players – no matter how much bench value they may have.

This is going to be an increasing problem for the Blazers as well. Blake, Pryz, Travis, and Webster are all moving into the $4 million – $7 million and up category. And Rudy, downstream, will expect the same.

Travis, in turn, will also be affected by the development of Batum and the return of Webster – as well as of that of Cunningham. Initially, Batum may have the greatest impact. We tended to ignore that early season shoulder injury that he lived with for much of the season, and which affected his shot. If that indeed had the effect that we have read about recently, then Batum may take a bigger step up in his second year – than we originally expected. At the same time, I realize, as do others, that without Webster last year, we had to have Travis.

From where I sit – Travis may have waited too long to take the summers seriously. He opened the door for Batum, and caused the Blazers to focus more on finding a reliable backup to Aldridge. Both are cheaper, and will be for several years. Travis is a good person – and started, as we all know, with great athletic ability, but almost no NBA ready basketball skills. It’s been quite a journey. But in some ways, his journey has taken too long. After all, he has the length and athleticism to be a better rebounder, and a more effecitve defender – but this has not seemed to be his focus.

He could learn from players like Blake, or even Bayless, let alone the Larry Bird’s of the league – but he took many of his summers off – rather than work on his weaknesses. And now, we are told that he hopes to pick it up – but I don’t know if one summer will be enough. And, Travis, having been a little too relaxed for too many summers – may find the same thing out.

Just because people want him off the team doesn’t mean it all and only comes from hate. Plenty of people, including me, just fully believe it would be betrer for the team if he wasn’t on it. As a person, I don’t know of any players that are better, but unfortunately that doesn’t translate into anything beneficial on the court.

Just because people bring up his seemingly low intelligence, isn’t just for hate’s sake. It’s because, guess what, BBIQ is actually extremely important to succeeding in this league. Shocking as this might be to some people. Unfortunately for Outlaw, I have never ever seen a Blazer with a seemingly lower BBIQ. This is a his huge weakness and it causes his extremely slow learning curve, inability to play team ball well, extreme lack of passing, and absense of all the little adjustments during a game that might be easy to miss, but really add up.

Yes he’s a very likeable person, yes he’s a very good shooter, yes he’s very athletic, but he’s also a one dimensional “black hole” who doesn’t contribute well to a team game. In the end, that’s what helps teams win championships.

Outlaw has some amazing skills, and also has some glaring weaknesses in his game.

I’m sure there are teams in the NBA that would love to get him, but I hope he is realistic about what he can get.

The Blazers have such a glut of talent on the team, I don’t think there is much room for Outlaw and I don’t think the Blazers will be too concerned with what they can get for him. (can’t imagine they will be looking to get players for him with the glut they have already, unless some sort of bundled deal like Outlaw & Bayless for a backup PF. But I think there is a decent prospect that Cunningham and/or Pendergraph may give them enough reserve capability at the 3-5 spots that there may be no need to acquire anyone else.

The question of BBIQ, that is probably an inflammatory way to put it.

Forget all that, the point is that Outlaw plays more of a one-on-one style and Nate clearly is a team concept guy.

That’s why I think guys like Cunningham and Pendergraph have a good shot at beating out Outlaw for minutes at the forward position.

Those of us who focus on Outlaw’s weaknesses sometimes fail to acknowledge that he has some pretty awesome skills. But I don’t think they fit Nate’s game plan.

BBK said:

“I don’t understand the hate.”

I don’t understand those who talk about this so-called “hate”. Since when does expressing candid opinions about what one believes to be the strengths and weaknesses of various players constitute “hate”.

It seems to me this is a symptom of the coarsening of public discourse, you can’t just disagree, you have to demonize anyone who disagrees with you.

There is occasionally an inflammatory comment about a player, and that should be condemed, but those of you who are claiming there is all this “hate” out there are clearly not just targeting those rare incidents, you are labeling virtually any critique of a player as “hate”.

" I don’t think any other team wants Travis… or else he would be gone."

Outlaw’s stock fluctuates a lot. I read some old blogs a couple weeks ago that were written early last season and people were showering glowing praise on Outlaw.

Now most people are less positive about him, probably mostly due to the playoffs.

I think the reality is somewhere between the two.

I guess that makes me a “hater”?

One thing about the Blazers.

With something like 13-14 players who are potentially good enough to be in the rotation (don’t forget Patty Mills), this team is going to have some dog-eat-dog internal competition for minutes.

Does anyone know if there is any other team in the NBA that has that kind of depth?

On most teams, if you are a good player, you get minutes, and the coach is overjoyed to have you.

It seems like the internal dynamics of the Blazers is going to be a whole lot different than what you find on a typical NBA team. I don’t know what the consequences will be. If it instills a culture of toughness, where a player is not only competing against the other teams in the league but competing against his own teammates, it could be a good thing.

But, it seems like there are also some risks in this situation.

The thing I most hope does not happen is to wind up with about five “Jarryd Baylesses” at the end of the coming season (one of which is liable to be Bayless himself)- players we think have a lot of future potential but didn’t get enough minutes of playing time during the season to be able to judge where they fit into the scheme of things.