FanPost

What If Dejuan Blair & Martell Webster Aren't Total Dead Weight?!?

Most discussion about our capped-out 15 man roster centers around the belief that two guys (3 if you include Garrett Temple, which I don't) are essentially eating roster spots that would be better used on younger/cheaper players. The sense is that neither is going to contribute this season and that we'd be better off dealing or cutting either/both in the name of flexibility. While I don't like the idea of going into the season without at least one open spot, I don't think we should be so quick to write these two (or 3) off. And here's why...

Martell Webster still has utility as a spot-up shooter even if he doesn't somehow regain full health after last year's hernia surgery. While he indeed looked awful last year, reality is this season he'll be a full year removed from the surgery and should be (keyword: should) closer to 100%. Last year, he fell completely off a cliff in all aspects, shooting just 23% from the field in spot minutes. I still think he can help this team if needed. Webster has already said he'll retire at the end of this current contract, and since the Wizards will likely cut him and void the final season of his deal next summer, I'm thinking he wants his last year to be a good one. He'll probably report in shape and battle Porter/Anderson/Oubre for minutes, and can help mentor young Kelly Oubre on the fine arts of moving without the ball and proper hair care. With Jared Dudley likely to miss some time, I think Martell comes in focused and ready. I also think he challenged Dudley for "most quotable/only even remotely interesting guy" on the roster.

Dejuan Blair was a total disappointment last season, but there'e plenty of reasons to believe he'll bounce back. He was utterly out of shape, which I think was directly attributable to a "get happy and fat" offseason in which he probably spent too much time celebrating the biggest payday of his short career. In the 2nd and final year of that deal, Blair's probably facing the harsh reality that he's one more lost season away from playing in China for very little money. Contract years seem to have a profound effect on young vets, and I expect nothing less than him coming into camp in peak condition, ready to fight Nene from some of those backup/backup center minutes. With Kevin Seraphin gone, he's got a well defined path to more PT. Judging by this photo alone, he seems to already be in much better shape. By "much better shape" I mean "he doesn't look like Terrio anymore". So there's that.

Garrett Temple shocked many when he somehow managed to negotiate a two-year fully guaranteed deal with the Wizards last offseason. He shot and defended well at the SG spot while Bradley Beal started the season injured before his shot fell off a cliff and he found himself buried at the end of the bench again. That said, I simply see no reason to get rid of Temple. He's a solid 5th guard who can come in ccld to give you stops when needed, and is always going to be Randy's security blanket when someone ahead of him (this means you, Ramon Sessions) inevitably screws up. He's a great guy to mentor Kelly Oubre on proper grooming and tie-tying techniques. Plus, the guy's an A+ human being and if this franchise had any common sense, they'd be grooming him for a front-office spot post-retirement. You just don't deal guys like that, especially since you'll likely get nothing of value in return.

Reality is, any player who could really help us out and give us solid rotation minutes is probably not sitting on the street as an unrestricted free agent right now. You don't make moves just for the sake of making moves, not when the guys at the end of the bench might actually be able to help you in a pinch. Keep all 3, unless you need to deal someone because of injuries.

This represents the view of the user who wrote the FanPost, and not the entire Bullets Forever community. We're a place of many opinions, not just one.