Outlaw's Start @ SF

[Butter]

I watched most of that game yesterday, and I thought Travis did a pretty good job at SF. I'd still really like to see him dramatically improve his ball handling, but I thought he looked effective.

The biggest knock on Travis @ the 3 has been his ability to guard smaller, quicker players, but last night I thought he did a decent job on Kobe.

[b_roy7]

I agree, him being as athletic as he is helped. If he continues playing well there, I could really see him staying there and Martell going to the bench.

[Goldbum]

I agree If Outlaw is our starting SF, then Channing will see alot more of our PF minutes. Webster will see more minutes at SG and maybe we won't be outsized all the time.

[ebott]

I concur. I was very happy with Outlaw at the 3. I see the future. It's a front line of Oden, Aldridge and Outlaw and it is beautiful.

[swede]

If he learns to pass more then no problem from me..

[Wizenheimer]

I think Outlaw can play SF, and his ball-handling ability brings a dimension that Webster and Jones don't have.

Travis still needs to work on his passing and not jacking up so many difficult shots. he also needs to work on just catching and shooting, instead of a tendency to dribble.

Perhaps, if portland decides he is the best bet at SF, a summer of working him in that position will help him a lot.

[Billy]

I agree with everything that's been said. Outlaw looked great. I think it's the only start in my memory (other than the throw away games at the end of the past two years) that he's excelled in. His ability to create his own shot may only be matched by Roy on this team.

That said, if Portland goes with Outlaw at SF I don't see a future for Martell here. Unlike Outlaw, I don't see Martell ever being capable of the energizer roll that Travis has played off the bench. I still would want to see one more full season of Webster though before passing judgment.

[Wizenheimer]

I agree with everything that's been said. Outlaw looked great. I think it's the only start in my memory (other than the throw away games at the end of the past two years) that he's excelled in. His ability to create his own shot may only be matched by Roy on this team.

That said, if Portland goes with Outlaw at SF I don't see a future for Martell here. Unlike Outlaw, I don't see Martell ever being capable of the energizer roll that Travis has played off the bench. I still would want to see one more full season of Webster though before passing judgment.

remember...if martell doesn't have his contract extended this summer, his cap-hold entering the 2009 off-season will be 300% of his salary...about 11.3 million dollars.

puts a big crimp on any cap-space plans

[Billy]

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remember...if martell doesn't have his contract extended this summer, his cap-hold entering the 2009 off-season will be 300% of his salary...about 11.3 million dollars.

puts a big crimp on any cap-space plans

Interesting. Although, couldn't Portland choose to resign him in the summer and thus adjust his cap number depending upon those numbers? Also I suppose Portland could deal him.

That certainly does change things.

[Mr Odd]

If he learns to pass more then no problem from me..

Pass to whom?? Other then LMA theres
really no other scorer playing right now.

[Wizenheimer]

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Interesting. Although, couldn't Portland choose to resign him in the summer and thus adjust his cap number depending upon those numbers? Also I suppose Portland could deal him.

That certainly does change things.

technically, I don't think the blazers are supposed to 'negotiate' till after the free agent signing period begins sometime in mid-july. They are required to offer the QO by June 30, otherwise Martell becomes UFA instead of RFA. He'd still count against the cap though, unless portland renounced the bird rights to him.

So if portland is confident they can ink him to a new contract immediately after the signing period begins, then I suppose they could take that risk.

But there is nothing compelling martell to sign right away. He may want to test the FA market to try and gauge what his value is. And teams will tend to go after the UFA's first and the RFA's afterwards. So Martell's FA status could last the majority of the summer, holding any cap-space options portland was planning on hostage.

[Tim Lehrbach]

Martell would be renounced if the Blazers wanted to sign somebody better. Or, if he's too good to lose for nothing (unlikely), then who cares about cap space?

[SoHo]

Travis still needs to work on his passing and not jacking up so many difficult shots. he also needs to work on just catching and shooting, instead of a tendency to dribble.

Perhaps, if portland decides he is the best bet at SF, a summer of working him in that position will help him a lot.

I wholeheartedly agree. I think his biggest problem is really fitting into the offense which is a blessing and a curse. He's capable of taking his man and elevating to get a shot off so I feel like he settles for doing that rather than making an extra pass.

Training camp/the beginning of next season will tell a lot. Oden will change how we play and Outlaw will have to fit into that new system, a system which probably benefits Martell more than Travis.

[Spykes]

Outlaw's passing is what really stood out to me from last night. I was throughly impressed with some of the passes he made when he'd get doubled. There were times when he'd drive to the hoop and get stuck in between a few defenders and he was able to kick it out to the open man behind the arch. It wasn't the most crisp pass ever, but it got to who he intended, that alone was impressive for Outlaw imo.

I definitely hope Nate keeps Travis at SF for a few more games, even after Roy gets back.

[Wizenheimer]

Martell would be renounced if the Blazers wanted to sign somebody better. Or, if he's too good to lose for nothing (unlikely), then who cares about cap space?

I'm not a big fan of the cap-space thingy...

however, if it could be determined by the end of this season that Martell wasn't part of portland's future, then Martell could at the least be traded this summer for something...like moving up 2 or 3 places in the draft order

that would seem to be a better alternative to just letting him walk a year later.

[Pattycakes]

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Pass to whom?? Other then LMA theres
really no other scorer playing right now.

QFT.

[mojomarc]

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Pass to whom?? Other then LMA theres
really no other scorer playing right now.

That's the excuse we used for Randolph last year, and it turned out to be nothing but an excuse and not a real reason.