I was reading the Jason Quick article that Dave linked about Travis outlaw, after saying that travis hopes to be an all star quick mentioned that mccmillan is still envisioning travis of the bench and webster starting, also saying webster is the best three point shooter on the team.

"McMillan said he still envisions using Outlaw off the bench this season because he fits better with the second unit, where he won't have to compete for shot attempts with Brandon Roy, LaMarcus Aldridge and Greg Oden. Also, McMillan figures Martell Webster, the team's other small forward, is better suited for the starting unit because he is the team's best three-point shooter, which will be needed when opponents double-team Aldridge and Oden inside. "

Although alot of people around BE think Outlaw should be the starter and that his stats say he is as good of a three point shooter, i think two things should be looked at.

1. Martell Made 123 3pointers, and Travis Made 40, the pure volume lowered websters percentage but he is obviously comfortable taking threes and made most of them

2. It also mentions that travis needs alot of work handling himself on the perimeter

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PG

-starting: Bayless 22 minutes

-backup: Blake 20 minutes

-situational Roy- 6 minutes

SG

-starting: Roy 28 minutes

-backup: Rudy 18 minutes

-situational: Bayless 2 minutes

SF

-starting: Webster 24 minutes

-backup: Outlaw 20 minutes

-situational: Rudy 4 minutes

PF

-starting: Aldridge 28 minutes

-backup: Frye 10 minutes

-situational: Diogu/Outlaw 10 minutes

C

-starting: Oden 28 minutes

-backup: Pryzbilla 16 minutes

-situational: Aldridge/Frye 4 minutes

This leaves the players with the following amount of minutes

Bayless-23

Blake-20

Roy-34

Rudy-22

Webster-24

Outlaw-24

Aldridge-30

Frye-12

Diogu-6

Oden-28

Pryzbilla-16

I think this would give everyone reasonable time, sergio and koponen would get very limmited time, but they would end up taking blake or bayless' minutes if they prove themselves, the biggest problem I see is that we have to many power forwards. I think channing frye should be traded for something minimal, or a young developing player just because he has the same game as lamarcus aldridge and diogu brings another type of game, this would also open up a few more minutes at PF for travis, this lineup only has roy playing more than 30 minutes, which means that the playing time would be pretty even, and everyone should be rested well enough for some late runs.

with the rumors coming from the arizona republic about trading barbosa for webster the #13 and someone else, is this the right deal for the blazers. Barbosa helps the PG situation but this trade would hurt the SF situation. 

Questions

1. Would it be worth giving up a starter for a sixth man?

2. Is the need at PG greater than that at SF?

3. Is a Barbosa-Outlaw combo better than Blake-Webster?

4.Can Outlaw start with his asthma?

5.Will we resign James Jones?

6. Will Barbosa be the starter?

7. Is there another combination of  players that would get this deal done?

please help anser these questions, i think they shed light on wether or not this would be a good trade.

If Memphis is interested in getting the number 13 pick from us which of their players outside of Rudy Gay would you most likely be interested in? Kyle Lowry and Mike Conley are both young point guards who have potential but haven't proved much. To make this trade work who would we have to give up? It would most likely be Travis. Who would you be willing to give up to get Conley or Lowry?

As I see it portland has four avenues on which to pursue a SF, Martell, Travis, JJ, or Bring someone in

1. Martell Webster

Drafted for his smooth jump shot, Martell is still developing in the NBA, he is younger than Travis and has better mechanics on his jumper, their defense is about equal but Nate has said that he is looking for Martell to become a lock down defender. In my opinion he is the second best dunker on the team behind Travis and works better as a part of the offense, as he develops his dribbling and spot up ability he could have a triple- threat potential.

2. Travis Outlaw

Travis Outlaw is an athletic freak, this creates mismatch problems for the other team, he also has a solid jumper that he can get off no matter what. He also provides the fans with some monster dunks.  He has developed a reputation as a clutch player. But, he doesn't play great defense (I see him having the potential to block a lot more shots than he does with his amazing leaping ability), and he also has a tendency to take a lot of wild shots, it works great when hes on but he is very inconsistent.

3. James Jones

James Jones is a good shooter from beyond the three point line but is an average defender and has already hit his ceiling as a player, he struggled at times through the season and doesn't have much potential, he seems to be a good character guy and may be a back up/ roll player if Travis or Martell get traded.

4. Elsewhere

Some players that have been recently discussed are Josh Childress of the Hawks and Josh Howard of the Mavericks

    a. Josh Childress

His stats look about the same as Webster's in more minutes, both teams have a strong PF and SG (Joe Johnson, Al Horford) although he is better defensively, unless he is available for a straight up trade for Outlaw /Webster or even jack we shouldn't trade for him

    b. Josh Howard

He is a worse three point shooter than either Travis or Martell, although he has higher scoring averages, he also plays more than either of them and is a key part of the Dallas offense. He fairly good defensively but his character issues, or at least speculation of issues almost negate the advantages he would have over the combination of Outlaw/Webster.

Conclusion

Personally I think Webster has the potential to be the best of any of these players and is already a solid contributer, as he develops he will fit in better with the team and will improve statistically, between he and outlaw I think small forward is not a weakness for this team although many seem to think so. Pursuing Howard or Childress seems like a fruitless effort in my opinion because what we would have to give up would not warrant the slight improvements unless we get rid of players KP thinks don't fit well and make a steal of a trade.

As I have read through several posts about the blazers needing some veteran leadership, I always ask myself the same question. Why get older? Raef is the oldest player on the team at 31, and he will most likely be gone next year. Przybilla  and Blake are each 28, and will most likely be coming off the bench in the future. James Jones at 27 does not necessarily have a future with the blazers. Other than these four players everyone on the roster is under 24. That means a good six years before age becomes an issue for this team. Why bring in a player who is any older than 25 when it just limits the window for the blazers in the stacked western conference.

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