It's a quite Labor Day for the NBA, so an excellent Jason Quick Oregonian feature on Blazer mystic Travis Outlaw is drawing some chatter. The news hook basically goes that Outlaw expects more of himself than to be a sixth man in Portland, and there's an inkling he expects more of a chance from Nate McMillan and friends. Some vital excerpts:[H]e says he would like to average 15 shots this season -- the amount [Brandon] Roy and [LaMarcus] Aldridge averaged last season -- and disputes the notion that he had the green light with the Blazers. "Noooo. Noooo," Outlaw says about the green light, prompting his imitation of Blazers coach Nate McMillan. "'Now Travis, that shot, you can get something better than that.'" [...]That quote belongs on a Hallmark card, but let's hit the meat: Outlaw will never average 15 FGAs a night on this team. McMillan plays slow and controlled, so this isn't like Golden State or Denver where a sixth-man can average 20 per game. Roy and Aldridge were alphas last year ... and the team is adding Greg Oden, Rudy Fernandez and Jerryd Bayless. Two of those fellows gun by birthright, the other is a potentially dominant post player. Dude's usage will go down, not up.
"I shoot jumpers like layups," Outlaw says. "Sometimes I get on a fast break and I want to pull up."
And that's before all these cats come of age. It will never get better. If Outlaw is spending his September counting potential FGAs, he's obviously not feeling the gameplan. It's awesome that he's talking about not giving McMillan a choice by playing magnificent ball. But the reality: Roy and Aldridge aren't slipping behind Outlaw in the pecking order, Rudy wasn't signed to become a defensive roleplayer, and Outlaw isn't ever becoming a top dog in Portland.
Thankfully, the Blazers have shown a willingness to include Outlaw in trade discussions. He deserves to shoot jumpers like layups somewhere. Maybe he'll get that opportunity in the next year or so.
