Although the Portland Trail Blazers were able to put away the Charlotte Bobcats tonight 80-74, securing their fourth straight win within their current road trip, it certainly came at a cost. In the first quarter, Travis Outlaw left the game with a foot injury which occurred as he made a sharp plant with his left foot while defending Gerald Wallace. X-rays later confirmed that Outlaw’s injury was a stress fracture of the fifth metatarsal in his left foot, not unlike Martell Webster’s injury which kept him out nearly all of last season. Outlaw is set to return to Portland immediately to have his injury evaluated.
This is certainly a disappointment for both Outlaw and the Blazers, as he was expected to anchor the scoring within Portland’s second unit. Outlaw had struggled with his shot throughout this young season, only shooting 37.6%, but Outlaw has always been an offensive threat for the Blazers as one of their few players who can effectively create shot opportunities for himself. It will be interesting to see what impact this injury may have on Outlaw’s future, as he was eager to bolster his stock in this final year of his current contract with the Blazers.
While we began the season wondering where all of Portland’s wing-players would find time to get on the floor, with the exit of Nicolas Batum and now Outlaw the Blazers will have to adjust their game plan. Now is when the Blazers’ “problem” of too much depth will pay the highest dividends. Outlaw’s departure will open up over 20 minutes a game to disperse amongst the current roster. The most obvious beneficiaries of Outlaw’s abandoned minutes should be from Rudy Fernandez and Martell Webster, both of whom have the ability to score in bunches when given the opportunity. Fernandez has more one-on-one scoring potential between the two, but both he and Webster are at their best when playing off of collapsing defenses — not breaking down defenses individually. Outlaw’s injury could also call for a bit more floor time for Brandon Roy (who is currently starting at the small forward spot), and potentially LaMarcus Aldridge as well given that Outlaw occasionally get spot minutes at power forward.
This loss stings for the Blazers, but ultimately I think they will be able to compensate for Outlaw’s (and Batum’s) injury. This is precisely why teams should stockpile talent and ignore potential logjams and the conflicts that these could provide. Since the core of Roy, Aldridge and Greg Oden is still in tact, I’m confident that they’ll still be able to take care of business as usual.
Who do you think will be the biggest beneficiary given the loss of both Outlaw and Batum?
