Martell Webster has back surgery -- OUT 3-5 months

[Ruzious]

Webster back in the lineup 12/21 or 12/23.

http://www.csnwashington.com/basketball ... ason-debut

The best way for the Wizards to put him to use is to have him take Seraphin's minutes. Use Gortat/Hump/Nene/Pierce at the 4 and 5 and Beal/Otto/Webster/Butler at the 2/3.

Looking forward to welcoming Mart3ll back.

Great news, I had missed Webster. Hopefully he can get back to his old self with relative ease.

Who knows - maybe this will turn out to be a good thing. His previous years here, his body wore down, and he basically stunk/couldn't play by the end of the season. Maybe the successful surgery and time off will allow him to finish the season/playoffs strong.

[Rafael122]

If I have this right, Webster has to play in 102 games w/in the next two seasons in order for his final year to be guaranteed. I don't think that includes playoff games (correct me if I'm wrong). The Wizards schedule is crazy, they're basically going to play a game every other day from now until the end of January. If I had to guess, I would say Webster comes back for the West Coast road trip in late January or comes back after that West Coast trip. There was an article in the Post talking about Webster and how it's difficult for him to get practice time b/c of the Wizards schedule. It's just something to keep an eye on, he could come back a lot sooner, but if he was held out another month, he'd basically have to play every remaining game this year and 55-60 games next season. With Martell that's no guarantee.

[TGW]

Does him being suited up count as a game played? If not, I'd bench him until April lol.

[closg00]

If I have this right, Webster has to play in 102 games w/in the next two seasons in order for his final year to be guaranteed. I don't think that includes playoff games (correct me if I'm wrong). The Wizards schedule is crazy, they're basically going to play a game every other day from now until the end of January. If I had to guess, I would say Webster comes back for the West Coast road trip in late January or comes back after that West Coast trip. There was an article in the Post talking about Webster and how it's difficult for him to get practice time b/c of the Wizards schedule. It's just something to keep an eye on, he could come back a lot sooner, but if he was held out another month, he'd basically have to play every remaining game this year and 55-60 games next season. With Martell that's no guarantee.

Very interesting from a contracting perspective, I wonder what EG's intentions are here?

[nate33]

Does him being suited up count as a game played? If not, I'd bench him until April lol.

I don't think being suited up counts. He needs to play actual minutes on the floor.

The Wizards erred last season by permitting Webster to ineffectively limp his way through the second half of the season. We would have been better off giving Porter more burn and sitting Webster for about 15 extra games. Webster would have been healthier for the playoffs, and there would be 15 more games added to his 60 games missed total. And Porter would have gotten more experience.

[dckingsfan]

Does him being suited up count as a game played? If not, I'd bench him until April lol.

I don't think being suited up counts. He needs to play actual minutes on the floor.

The Wizards erred last season by permitting Webster to ineffectively limp his way through the second half of the season. We would have been better off giving Porter more burn and sitting Webster for about 15 extra games. Webster would have been healthier for the playoffs, and there would be 15 more games added to his 60 games missed total. And Porter would have gotten more experience.

Chess vs. Checkers

[Kanyewest]

Does him being suited up count as a game played? If not, I'd bench him until April lol.

I don't think being suited up counts. He needs to play actual minutes on the floor.

The Wizards erred last season by permitting Webster to ineffectively limp his way through the second half of the season. We would have been better off giving Porter more burn and sitting Webster for about 15 extra games. Webster would have been healthier for the playoffs, and there would be 15 more games added to his 60 games missed total. And Porter would have gotten more experience.

Chess vs. Checkers

That was an interesting dilemma because if the Wizards had lost 1 or 2 more games, they would have played Miami in the first round. Or even Toronto. The Bulls were a good matchup for the Wizards in their first round series, plus they were on the road to avoid Miami up until the conference finals.

On the surface, it looks like the Wizards sacrificed Webster like a pawn to get to the 2nd round, although Webster may have needed to have surgery when he was playing at the end of last season anyways.

[dckingsfan]

I don't think being suited up counts. He needs to play actual minutes on the floor.

The Wizards erred last season by permitting Webster to ineffectively limp his way through the second half of the season. We would have been better off giving Porter more burn and sitting Webster for about 15 extra games. Webster would have been healthier for the playoffs, and there would be 15 more games added to his 60 games missed total. And Porter would have gotten more experience.

Chess vs. Checkers

That was an interesting dilemma because if the Wizards had lost 1 or 2 more games, they would have played Miami in the first round. Or even Toronto. The Bulls were a good matchup for the Wizards in their first round series, plus they were on the road to avoid Miami up until the conference finals.

On the surface, it looks like the Wizards sacrificed Webster like a pawn to get to the 2nd round, although Webster may have needed to have surgery when he was playing at the end of last season anyways.

But like Nene, PP and Gooden, they all need days off - and that isn't the modus operandi at this time. Don't panic to get in the playoffs one time... hence chess vs. checkers?

[nate33]

I don't think being suited up counts. He needs to play actual minutes on the floor.

The Wizards erred last season by permitting Webster to ineffectively limp his way through the second half of the season. We would have been better off giving Porter more burn and sitting Webster for about 15 extra games. Webster would have been healthier for the playoffs, and there would be 15 more games added to his 60 games missed total. And Porter would have gotten more experience.

Chess vs. Checkers

That was an interesting dilemma because if the Wizards had lost 1 or 2 more games, they would have played Miami in the first round. Or even Toronto. The Bulls were a good matchup for the Wizards in their first round series, plus they were on the road to avoid Miami up until the conference finals.

On the surface, it looks like the Wizards sacrificed Webster like a pawn to get to the 2nd round, although Webster may have needed to have surgery when he was playing at the end of last season anyways.

I'm not sure that a hobbled Webster was really helping us win games down the stretch. He was pretty horrible for 17 of the last 19 games of the regular season. But to be fair, I'm using 20/20 hindsight. I suppose at the time, Wittman couldn't know for sure that the Webster that he put out on the floor would be ineffective.