Oh What Could Have Been
There was a day when the Nuggets were close to acquiring Travis Outlaw, now in his third season the young slasher is making Nuggets fans wish they had...
Back in February of 2006, the Nuggets front office was busy orchestrating a multi-team trade that ended up in the Nuggets acquiring Reggie Evans from Seattle and Reuben Patterson along with Charles Smith from the Portland Trailblazers. At the time, it was a decent move for the Nuggets, as they managed to add some much needed defensive and rebounding prowess. 
Now, nearly two years removed from the anniversary of the trade, it doesn't seem to have mattered too much. After all both Evans and Patterson had but sparse moments of glory as members of the Nuggets team. Evans and Patterson both eventually faded out of favor, and alas are now both playing elsewhere. Evans' strong board work was not enough to overcome his mental lapses on the offensive end of the court. Patterson, assuredly the more corrosive of the two, was supposedly shunning the likes of assistant coach Adrian Dantley and getting in (reportedly) verbal and physical spats with Carmelo Anthony during team practices. Despite both Patterson and Evans' eventual arrival in the George Karl doghouse, this trade still holds significance today. Not for what it brought to the Nuggets, but for what it could have brought to the Nuggets. Along with Patterson, the Portland Trailblazers were also aggressively looking to move Travis Outlaw, then an unproven, young forward who had been close to being called yet another example of an immature high-school draftee bust; Yet another classic example of a guy who should have opted for some collegiate matriculation. Coming straight out of Starkville High School in Starkville, Mississippi, Outlaw had longed been considered to be a pretty solid NBA prospect. His laurels included earning Mississippi All-State honors in 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003 and being named to the USA Today All-USA 3rd Team in 2003. Such achievements combined with a substantial amount of pre-draft hype propelled Outlaw into the first round of the 2003 NBA draft where the athletic, young prospect was selected by the Portland at the #23 overall draft slot. A few up-&-down years later and Travis Outlaw found himself in the middle of ramped trade roomers, none of which were more closely founded in reality than the roomers that had him winding up with the Denver Nuggets. From all accounts, the Blazers were the driving force behind the push to move him to Denver, not visa versa. The roomers stayed hot and juicy up until February 23, the day the Nuggets, Blazers, Sacramento Kings and Seattle SuperSonics completed the 10 player transaction. It was assumed, by many in-the-loop, that if the Nuggets were to be getting anyone from Portland it would most likely be Outlaw. Obviously history would speak differently, from Portland, the Nuggets received Reuben Patterson and Charles Smith, who was cut less than a week after putting on a powder-blue uniform. It seems, even now, that it would have taken more from the Nuggets end of the bargain to land Patterson, Outlaw and Smith. But it wouldn't have taken much. In fact, the Blazers first intention was to send Outlaw to the Nuggets and not Patterson. But before that could go down, George Karl's personal delegating made Patterson the object of the Nuggets affection. The honeymoon did not last long. Nobody will be able to forget the infamous George Karl - Reuben Patterson fall out that ended up coming to a head during the Nuggets first round playoff series against the Los Angeles Clippers, a series in which saw the benching of Patterson accompanied the rotten stench of a Clippers lopsided series win. So while George got his man that he desired, at the time, it now appears that he also made sure not to get the player who he really had no desire for, Travis Outlaw. According to a source that was, at the time substantially close to the Portland situation, it was exclusively George Karl that kept Outlaw from being included in the trade to Denver. 
According to this source, who has since moved on from the Portland area, the original plan was for the Nuggets to send Voshon Lenard and a 2008-09 2nd round pick to the Blazers in exchange for both Reuben Patterson and Outlaw. The terms of that deal were all but inked when the Nuggets asked for a round of revisions because George Karl did not see the merit at bringing in two viable players who played, basically, the same position, this all according to our source. "As far as we(Portland) were told, George did not want to have to deal with trying to work in Travis into his rotation," said our source who is unable to be named due to his current employment with another NBA team.
"I don't think it was as much that George had something against him(Outlaw), it was more of George not wanting to see a talented young player who should have been getting minuets end up getting frustrated by not getting any time. When you're bringing in a guy who had some serious baggage(Patterson), you really don't want to risk adding more fuel to a potential fire with a malcontented young player. From that angle, I don't see how you could criticize George's decision, at the time he was just looking out for the best interest of his team," noted our source.
While George's concern over chemistry can be considered justified, especially after the inevitable Reuben Patterson blow-up, it still stings a little bit as Travis Outlaw's recent surge of improvement has helped Portland's ascension to being the NBA's hottest team. With a record of 15-12, the Blazers are right behind the Nuggets in the race for top dog in the Southwestern Division. They have won 10 consecutive games and are quickly becoming one of the most exciting teams to watch in the NBA. While all is not completely due to the emergence of Travis Outlaw, who is currently averaging over 12 points and 5 boards in just 26 minuets per game, the dynamic young forward has certainly played an important role, especially on defense. A fact that revealed itself to Nuggets fans during Portland's Friday night win over the Nuggets when Outlaw, a gallant leaper, led his team with three blocked shots. None of which were more detrimental than his emphatic stuffing of a last second shot attempt by Linas Kleiza, which if made, would have given the Nuggets a hard-fought victory. While Outlaw's numbers are up across the board, additionally he is earning some emphatic kudos from his Trailblazer coaches, all of whom are saying that Outlaw has finally started "putting it all together". This is especially encouraging for the former McDonald's All-American, who has never been lacking in the physical tools necessary to make one an NBA star. The questions surrounding Outlaw always have revolved around his mental approach to the game and his ability to get consistent in his output. Suffice to say, based upon his stellar play of late, these questions surrounding Outlaw can seemingly be put to bed. Who's to say if this improvement would have come to light if the Nuggets had gone through with acquiring him? That said, Outlaw's recent play is enough to make one think back and wonder: 'Oh what could have been'.
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