Report: Knicks to waive Travis Outlaw

The New York Knicks will keep undrafted rookie Travis Wear on their 15-man roster and waive veteran forward Travis Outlaw, according to Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv.

Outlaw, an 11-year vet, is entering the last season of a fully guranteed four-year deal, and is owed $3 million. The Knicks are already well over the luxury tax line so excising Outlaw's cap hit won't help them duck it. But they apparently don't mind eating his salary if it means improving their roster.  

And improving their roster seems to mean keeping Wear, a 24-year-old, 6-foot-10 forward out of UCLA who impressed coach Derek Fisher in training camp and preseason play.  

"Travis is a really good player," Fisher said last weekend. "He works hard every single day. He has some natural talents and some natural gifts that you can’t coach. He’s extremely athletic and he has a feel for the game of basketball. He’s helped us in the minutes that he has gotten out on the floor."

Outlaw, who jumped straight to the NBA out of high school in the 2003 draft, showed a good deal of promise early in his career, cresting in 2007-08 when he averaged 13.3 points and 4.6 rebounds per game with the Portland Trail Blazers. 

But his production has cratered in recent years as he seems to have completely forgotten how to shoot the ball, hitting less than 40 percent of his field goals in four of the past five seasons.