Out Like Trout?

Travis Outlaw played the fourth most minutes of any player on the 54-win Blazers last year. The team frequently turned to him at the end of games when Brandon Roy was doubled. He's gotten progressively better every season he's been in the league. He works his ass off. Everyone on the team loves him.

Yet the brass still actively pursued Turkoglu and Millsap, throwing more money at those guys than Trout could ever dream of. Pritchard is probably on the phone right now trying to deal him for a mediocre backup PF.

Why?

His defense, mostly. Plus, he's been known to take some really bad shots. And with the addition of Andre Miller, one of the deepest teams in the league just got deeper. Dividing up all those minutes is nigh impossible, and people have really tried.

So what's next for Outlaw? Does he continue his upward trend or get buried on the bench behind Portland's glut of wings? Most Blazer fans would prefer the latter. He's become somewhat of a whipping boy, which is a stark contrast from the pre-Brandon era when he was a fan favorite and one of the team's few bright spots (no disrespect to Darius Miles, Zach Randolph and Ruben Patterson- ahem).

In a recent Tweet, Outlaw maintained a positive perspective: "I love all the doubt and negativity...feeding it all to the motivational flames. Keep it coming."

Somehow I don't think that'll be a problem.

D Miles Only Two Games From Assraping Blazers

Apparently, the six preseason games Darius Miles played for the Celtics this year will count toward his magic number of 10 to screw Portland out of its massive cap space. Miles only needs to play in two more games this season to throw a huge wrench in Portland's ability to sign free agents next year.

Check out Yahoo's account here.

Miles was cut this week by Memphis so another GM would have to sign him specifically to stick a dagger in Kevin Pritchard. By all accounts, Miles once formidable skills are gone. So it would be a straight up dick move, basically- a monumental cockblock. I've heard rumors of an unspoken code between GMs to not fuck each other over because it hampers the ability to trade later on but I wouldn't put it past one of the teams competing with Portland for those lower seeded playoff spots (Dallas, Houston, Denver) to use this opportunity to their advantage.

Just think- Miles could cost Portland Deron Williams or Chris Bosh AND put them into the luxury tax. Double doh.

Remembering The Cleveland Cadavers

The arrival of Lebron James in 2003 instantly transformed the Cleveland Cavaliers into an organization to be taken seriously. This year, they've taken their status up a notch to elite contender. And the media's drooling all over them. I mean, check out this latest puff piece from SI that slobs all over Cleveland's collective knob.

But anyone older than twenty probably remembers many scenarios where the Cadavers (or Cadavaliers, as they were also called) were the laughingstock of professional sports.

Here's an enlightening look back at the golden Ricky Davis/Darius Miles era.

Pictured: Ricky Buckets and some Cadavers fans



Or who could forget this controversial shaft from Carlos Boozer?

And I can't omit the historically brutal 15-67 squad of 1981-82 'led' by James Buddha Edwards.

Finally, here's Tom Ford, the guy credited with coining Cadavers as a nickname.

Look at it this way: if LBJ leaves for the Knicks in a year, that old, amusing moniker might be back in business.