Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports
Martell Webster came off the bench in the first eight games of the season for the Washington Wizards, but an injury to Trevor Ariza (hamstring) has vaulted him into a starting role over the last three games and his production has followed suit (15.3 points, 6.7 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game). If you count the game Ariza went down in, Webster has averaged 16.8 points, 7.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game over the last four games while playing at least 35 minutes in each game.
Ariza will not play again on Friday night against the Toronto Raptors and it’s not clear when he will return. Should fantasy basketball owners now consider Webster a must-add?
After missing significant time in each of the previous two seasons, Webster stayed relatively healthy in his first season with the Wizards last year (76 games played; 62 starts) and he set career-highs across the board (11.4 points, 3.9 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game) while making over 42 percent of his three-pointers. So far this season his production has been similar through 11 games, with averages of 11.5 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game along with a conversion rate of just over 37 percent from beyond the arc.
Webster’s recent performance virtually assures he’ll continue to have a big role even after Ariza returns to action, and his production over the last few games has not been so lofty as to be unsustainable going forward. As predominantly a perimeter player (5.6 three-point attempts per game this season and 8.6 field goal attempts per game overall) a shooting slump is always possible, but Webster’s fantasy stock is on the rise and he is still available in 61 percent of Yahoo! leagues even with a recent spike in his ownership percentage.
Brad Berreman is a contributing writer at Rant Sports.com. Follow him on Twitter @bradberreman24.
