# Jason Quick: Outlaw "almost untouchable" at this point



## Devil in the Details (Jun 20, 2008)

Tonight, Jason Quick proclaimed that based on his conversations with insiders in the Blazers organization, Travis Outlaw is now "almost untouchable" and very unlikely to be traded. He also said that the plan is to play Outlaw almost exclusively at the small forward spot next year.


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## NateBishop3 (Jul 22, 2003)

I honestly can't remember a single time when Jason Quick has been right about a trade rumor. Ever.


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## GOD (Jun 22, 2003)

If this is the first time Quick is right, I'll be happy. I wonder if this means that KP has found a new home for Webster? I like Webster, just not as much as Outlaw. But I don't think we need to rehash this one again. Do we?


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## RoyToy (May 25, 2007)

Is Outlaw Roy's closest friend on the team?

Starting him I just don't know. I think he's absolutely perfect as a 6th man. 

I guess I'm not totally against Outlaw starting though. If it's Pritchard's vision to have Outlaw starting, then I'll give it a shot.

I also wonder if this is just a smokescreen. I'm guessing not likely though.


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## meru (Jul 2, 2003)

Devil in the Details said:


> Tonight, Jason Quick proclaimed that based on his conversations with insiders in the Blazers organization, Travis Outlaw is now "almost untouchable" and very unlikely to be traded. He also said that *the plan is to play Outlaw almost exclusively at the small forward spot next year*.


Hmm. Not sure I'm happy about that. Call me crazy, but I like SFs who can handle the ball just a little. And who occasionally give up the ball.


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## Devil in the Details (Jun 20, 2008)

RoyToy said:


> Is Outlaw Roy's closest friend on the team?
> 
> Starting him I just don't know. I think he's absolutely perfect as a 6th man.
> 
> ...


To be fair, Quick didn't explicitly say that Outlaw would be starting. Just that he would exclusively play the SF position. I interpreted it to mean starting, but I guess it would also be consistent with a Outlaw/Frye/Pryzbilla at the 3/4/5 set-up for the back-up team.


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## HispanicCausinPanic (Jul 2, 2005)

I would love to have Trav as our starting 3! He'd be perfect.


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## It's_GO_Time (Oct 13, 2005)

KP has repeatedly said he doesn't want to give up on a player too soon (giving O'Neil as an example) . . . that they have to be real careful about taht . . I think Travis and Webster are products of that thinking.

We are still in the cake baking stage and (putting together all the interviews from KP) I see a real reluctance from him to trade young pieces . . . of course all this could be the dreaded smoke screen . . . come to think about it I just don't know what to believe anymore . . .


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## HispanicCausinPanic (Jul 2, 2005)

Let that cake bake baby! It isn't done yet!


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## Crimson the Cat (Dec 30, 2002)

But sometimes you get hungry and the cake isn't ready yet (Webster). Or, sometimes you messed up and dumped a bunch of red pepper flakes in the batch and instead of picking them all out or starting over, you think, well maybe it'll taste okay (Jack). Then there's always the ever popular take the cake out way before it's finished. Yum. How good is cake when it's all gooey and yummy (Conley). Crap. I'm hungry now. I'm out.


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## chairman (Jul 2, 2006)

meru said:


> Hmm. Not sure I'm happy about that. Call me crazy, but I like SFs who can handle the ball just a little. And who occasionally give up the ball.


If Travis started then I don't think "occassionally giving up the ball" would be a problem. Look who he would be on the court with. I am sure Roy would make that clear if it was a problem. I think with the second unit they asked him to be more aggressive with his shot. Granted sometimes he over did it, but Travis doesn't exactly strike me as being a selfish player.


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## Mr. Chuck Taylor (Aug 2, 2004)

Devil in the Details said:


> Tonight, Jason Quick proclaimed that based on his conversations with insiders in the Blazers organization, Travis Outlaw is now "almost untouchable" and very unlikely to be traded. He also said that the plan is to play Outlaw almost exclusively at the small forward spot next year.


Where did you hear this?


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## The Professional Fan (Nov 5, 2003)

GOD said:


> If this is the first time Quick is right, I'll be happy. I wonder if this means that KP has found a new home for Webster? I like Webster, just not as much as Outlaw. But I don't think we need to rehash this one again. Do we?


SICK signature. Holy, lmao.


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## GOD (Jun 22, 2003)

The Professional Fan said:


> SICK signature. Holy, lmao.


Thanks

I came up with the idea but the real props goes to ChadWick who actually made my vision come to life. Find one of his posts and there is a link below where he will make personalized avatars and sigs for people. ChadWick Rocks!!!


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## BlazerFanFoLife (Jul 17, 2003)

Just trying to build value two days prior to the draft, not taking anything at face value that is on the net right now advise the rest to do the same. KP has said anyone can get traded, Quick just needs headlines...


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## Masbee (Dec 31, 2002)

Devil in the Details said:


> Tonight, Jason Quick proclaimed that based on his conversations with insiders in the Blazers organization, Travis Outlaw is now "almost untouchable" and very unlikely to be traded. He also said that the plan is to play Outlaw almost exclusively at the small forward spot next year.


Travis Outlaw "untouchable"?

LMAO.

Complete horse****.

Outlaw is a one-trick pony with the worst plus-minus on the team that gets big minutes. Yes, worse than Jack.

He may get better. Then again, he may not.

Untouchable?

Why?


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## ebott (Jan 7, 2003)

If the team believes Travis can play the 3 full time I'm all for it. In KP and Nate we trust. Then again they've been talking about how they think Roy can play point full time and no amount of talk is going to make me think otherwise.

So for the time being I figure everyone outside of the big 3 (and Rudy mostly because I don't think his trade value is very high being unsigned and once we sign him we can't trade him) is up for trade if it means we can try and bring back the type of player that will turn them into a big 4.


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## mgb (Jun 26, 2004)

Devil in the Details said:


> Tonight, Jason Quick proclaimed that based on his conversations with insiders in the Blazers organization, Travis Outlaw is now "almost untouchable" and very unlikely to be traded. He also said that the plan is to play Outlaw almost exclusively at the small forward spot next year.


Damn, so Outlaw's gone.


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## ThatBlazerGuy (May 1, 2003)

I really think, if this leads to us dealing Webster, it is a mistake. Travis is completley 1 dimensional. Get the ball at the top of the key, shake left, shake right, pull up for a contested J. Thats it. He is worthless without the ball in his hands and despite his athlecism posesses the footspeed of McRoberts. I dont care how 'good' of a kid he is, he has miles and miles to go before he is a legit, 2 way threat.


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## chairman (Jul 2, 2006)

ThatBlazerGuy said:


> I really think, if this leads to us dealing Webster, it is a mistake. Travis is completley 1 dimensional. Get the ball at the top of the key, shake left, shake right, pull up for a contested J. Thats it. He is worthless without the ball in his hands and despite his athlecism posesses the footspeed of McRoberts. I dont care how 'good' of a kid he is, he has miles and miles to go before he is a legit, 2 way threat.



Well I know he has at least one other move because I saw the replay about 100 times against Memphis. Oh and he also has that worthless move when he runs down the court without the ball and catches the half court pass from Sergio for the dunk. But seriously Travis does have a nice pull up jumper in the lane where he drives, stops, and fades back making it virtually impossible to block. But I do agree he needs one more at the basket where he lays it up softly. Me thinks he can learn that. Actually he has the toughest one down. The pull up jumper is a lost art.They can contest it all they want, they seldom touch it.


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## andalusian (Jun 29, 2006)

I am starting to think that Webster is the most overrated Blazer since Bassy.


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## alext42083 (Nov 7, 2003)

andalusian said:


> I am starting to think that Webster is the most overrated Blazer since Bassy.


Overrated? I don't think anyone expected greatness from him. He's improved every season, only three years removed from high school. It took Travis nearly four years to show something.

Sebastian, though, was overrated, I agree.. don't know what the hell John Nash was thinking that year.


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## craigehlo (Feb 24, 2005)

andalusian said:


> I am starting to think that Webster is the most overrated Blazer since Bassy.


Agreed. I can't wait till we wash our hands of him and his "potential" that will never be realized. We can likely pick up someone at 27 that's got more game that Webster ever will. He was a risky pick that didn't pan out. Time to move on.


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## andalusian (Jun 29, 2006)

alext42083 said:


> Overrated? I don't think anyone expected greatness from him. He's improved every season, only three years removed from high school. It took Travis nearly four years to show something.


In 5 years in the league Travis had 4 years with a PER of over 15 (average starter in the league). Throw out his rookie year (too small a sample) and it is 3 out of 4 years where his PER is above 15.

In 3 years Martel has had a best year PER (last year) of 12. It is up from 11.6 he had in his rookie year, I will give you that, but Travis's worst year was better, when looking at PER, than Webster's best year. Given that Webster was the #6 pick (higher than Bassy) and was supposed to have an NBA ready body from the minute he joined...

People are whining that they hope Outlaw is traded and not Webster... - I do not know about expecting greatness from Webster - but after 3 years - I just hope we can expect average (starter) from him one of these days.



alext42083 said:


> Sebastian, though, was overrated, I agree.. don't know what the hell John Nash was thinking that year.


Bassy at 13 was a reach, but Webester at 6 with CP3 and Deron availabe with the #3 pick (that Portland had before it was traded to Utah) was criminal...


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## LameR (Jan 4, 2004)

craigehlo said:


> Agreed. I can't wait till we wash our hands of him and his "potential" that will never be realized. We can likely pick up someone at 27 that's got more game that Webster ever will. He was a risky pick that didn't pan out. Time to move on.


I really hope you're joking. He's 21 and has improved every year. I personally think he's better than Outlaw (although their games are very different, and have different roles obviously).


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## Ed O (Dec 30, 2002)

craigehlo said:


> Agreed. I can't wait till we wash our hands of him and his "potential" that will never be realized. We can likely pick up someone at 27 that's got more game that Webster ever will. He was a risky pick that didn't pan out. Time to move on.


Yeah. I hate 21 year-olds that average 10 ppg starting 70 games on a .500 team.

He's a total bum. Better get rid of him before he hits age 22 or else he might REALLY start stinking.

Ed O.


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## alext42083 (Nov 7, 2003)

andalusian said:


> In 5 years in the league Travis had 4 years with a PER of over 15 (average starter in the league). Throw out his rookie year (too small a sample) and it is 3 out of 4 years where his PER is above 15.
> 
> In 3 years Martel has had a best year PER (last year) of 12. It is up from 11.6 he had in his rookie year, I will give you that, but Travis's worst year was better, when looking at PER, than Webster's best year. Given that Webster was the #6 pick (higher than Bassy) and was supposed to have an NBA ready body from the minute he joined...
> 
> People are whining that they hope Outlaw is traded and not Webster... - I do not know about expecting greatness from Webster - but after 3 years - I just hope we can expect average (starter) from him one of these days.


When PER stats rank Carl Landry and Leon Powe over Brandon Roy, then I sometimes disregard it as a stat.

When I look at Webster I see this:

Rookie: 6.6 PPG, 2.1 RPG, 39.9 FG%, 35.7 3PT FG%
Second year: 7.0 PPG, 2.9 RPG, 39.6 FG%, 36.4 3PT FG%
*This year: 10.7 PPG, 4.0 RPG, 42.2 FG%, 38.8 3PT FG%
* All career highs*

The guy has the tools, but has barely tapped into the potential. He's got a great future IMO.



> Bassy at 13 was a reach, but Webester at 6 with CP3 and Deron availabe with the #3 pick (that Portland had before it was traded to Utah) was criminal...


And I think it's time to forget about this.. Yeah it was horrible, but there's nothing we can do about it now. I think I like how we ended up.


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## ProZach (Oct 13, 2005)

I love Travis but I'm going to have to side with Webster in this debate. This coming year he'll turn a few more of you into believers. I just hope he does so in a Blazers uniform.


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## Minstrel (Dec 31, 2002)

With the first round picks and Outlaw, Portland has some real ammunition to get a major piece without giving up Oden/Aldridge/Roy. Outlaw may not be dealt, but there is no way he's "untouchable." He certainly not the caliber of player to be untouchable to any GM, and Pritchard's creativity and aggressiveness makes it completely unbelievable.


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## andalusian (Jun 29, 2006)

With Travis being Roy's best friend on the team, a guy that can create instant offense from the bench who does not seem to crave a starter position and a very reasonable contract - I suspect that someone would have to blow KP's socks off to let go of Travis.

Untouchable? No. But unlikely to be moved, IMHO.


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## MAS RipCity (Feb 22, 2003)

Marty is a good player, but isn't it interesting to notice how all of his good games come when a star player is out?
He has the mentality that he needs to be the man, which isn't a bad thing,but it does us no good when he is 5th or th fiddle. He'll never be the spot up sharpshooter we need. He'll go to a team that can showcase him as a top 2 option and be a nice player. 
Travis, on the other hand, knows his role. He can be clutch, come off of the bench, start, play 2 positions, and seemingly turn it on or off. If we need his scoring he lights it up. Both are good players but Travis is the better fit.


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## 2k (Dec 30, 2005)

I would rather Travis gain 15 pounds and just play the 4 spot. When he wasn't giving up offensive boards his interior d was sound.


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## Minstrel (Dec 31, 2002)

andalusian said:


> With Travis being Roy's best friend on the team


I'm skeptical that this is a key factor. I'm sure he'd like a team that gets along and has a closeness, but I doubt his being "best friends" with Roy would really cause Pritchard to hesitate in making what he felt was a good value trade.


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## andalusian (Jun 29, 2006)

Minstrel said:


> I'm skeptical that this is a key factor. I'm sure he'd like a team that gets along and has a closeness, but I doubt his being "best friends" with Roy would really cause Pritchard to hesitate in making what he felt was a good value trade.


There were rumors that Roy and others asked KP to try and avoid trading Travis. I agree that if there is a really crazy deal there - KP will go for it - but I suspect that unless it is a "I can't believe I can get this guy for Travis" deal - KP will do as much as possible to make Roy happy - it only makes sense.


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## Fork (Jan 2, 2003)

NateBishop3 said:


> I honestly can't remember a single time when Jason Quick has been right about a trade rumor. Ever.


http://myespn.go.com/blogs/truehoop/0-13-44/Jason-Quick--Trade-Winds-Brewing.html


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## LameR (Jan 4, 2004)

andalusian said:


> a guy that can create instant offense from the bench


You say this like he's amazingly consistent. Do you forget that when his shot isn't falling, he's still jacking up shots almost every time he gets the ball? The dude is lights out in the 4th, and I absolutely love it. He's a momentum changer earlier in games at times, but sometimes he just digs the hole deeper. I'm hoping we keep him and Webster because I think it's very possible for him to improve his judgement about when he should be putting up more shots. 

Also, having a combo of some of Rudy/Blake/rookie PG/Frye in the lineup with him, I don't think he'll have to do as much on his own as last year. Frye playing center kind of took him out of his game. James Jones camped in the corner. Outlaw played out of position. Jack/Sergio would dribble around too much, and no one really moved. Realistically, our backups could be starters on a good amount of teams, and will have another year of playing together under the belts. I don't think the people he's playing with (and positions) is something to discount as a factor into his possible continued improvement this year.


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## Sambonius (May 21, 2003)

I would always be willing to give up a bench quality player for a starting quality player. Having said that, I don't believe Quick in the slightest.


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## DonCorleone (Jul 1, 2005)

MAS RipCity said:


> Marty is a good player, but isn't it interesting to notice how all of his good games come when a star player is out? He has the mentality that he needs to be the man, which isn't a bad thing,but it does us no good when he is 5th or th fiddle. *He'll never be the spot up sharpshooter we need.*


Just curious, what makes you so certain Webster will "never be the spot up sharpshooter we need?"

James Jones entered the NBA after 4 seasons in college. During his third season in the NBA he shot 38.6% from 3-point distance with 285 attempts.

Martell Webster entered the NBA straight out of high school. During his third season in the NBA he shot 38.8% from 3-point distance with 317 attempts.

The season prior to joining the Blazers, James Jones shot three pointers at 37.8%. He improved to one of the top 3-point specialists in the NBA last season, his fifth in the NBA, at the age of 27. There are no guarantees that Webster will follow a similar path, but it really doesn't take that big a leap of faith to think 21 year old Webster can continue to improve and consistently become a 40+ percent high volume three point shooter. He isn't far off already, unless you think last season was a fluke.


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## World B. Free (Mar 28, 2008)

Remember when Avery Johnson was talking about how Devin Harris was so untouchable and he was the new face of the Mavericks? I am thinking that maybe Trav is gone tomorrow.


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## B_&_B (Feb 19, 2004)

Wheels just said on The Game that he gets the impression that Outlaw is not totally "untoachable", it will take a very good deal for us to trade him. We'd have to get a starter in return.


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## ProZach (Oct 13, 2005)

MAS RipCity said:


> Marty is a good player, but isn't it interesting to notice how all of his good games come when a star player is out?
> He has the mentality that he needs to be the man, which isn't a bad thing,but it does us no good when he is 5th or th fiddle.


That's just simply untrue. Most of his good games came with both Roy and Aldridge playing. Even his huge 3rd quarter against Utah was with both of them playing. 

A few of his games this year with both Roy and Aldridge in the game:


22/3/5 
16/1/4
13/3/3
15/0/7
17/1/7
18/0/3
17/1/5
16/1/2
26/3/6 (24 in one quarter)
19/1/5
15/2/2
17/0/1
15/1/5
15/0/6 (4 blocks)
12/4/6
17/1/5
20/2/4
15/0/8

There are more.

Maybe you're referring to the fact all this happened without Oden?


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## Crimson the Cat (Dec 30, 2002)

Probably he is untouchable for the players being offered. This info was most likely purposely leaked to make a statement - either upgrade your offers or don't ask!


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## BIG Q (Jul 8, 2005)

ProZach said:


> That's just simply untrue. Most of his good games came with both Roy and Aldridge playing. *Even his huge 3rd quarter against Utah was with both of them playing*.
> 
> A few of his games this year with both Roy and Aldridge in the game:
> 
> ...



Roy did not play in the second half of the Utah game due to injury. I believe Webster started the second half as the SG and was encouraged by the coaching staff to be aggressive and take over the game with Roy unavailable. I see Webster being much better than James Jones. The kid can shoot just as well and is better at defense. Sure, Jones is a vet, but he has only played five seasons so Webster will soon be a vet as well.


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