FRIDAY, 3:55pm: Webster underwent successful surgery today and he is expected to miss the remainder of the season, the Wizards announced.
11:32am: It’s usually an eight-to-10 month recovery timetable, a person with knowledge of the situation told Castillo for an updated version of his story. It was Webster who cited four to six months.
9:28am: The injury will knock him out nine to 10 months, according to J. Michael of CSNWashington.com, threatening his availability for training camp next season. The Wizards will apply for a disabled player exception, Michael adds.
WEDNESDAY, 9:14am: Wizards small forward Martell Webster will have surgery Friday on his ailing right hip and expects to miss four to six months, reports Jorge Castillo of The Washington Post. The news is not entirely surprising, since he told reporters last month that surgery was among the solutions in play to address the issue, which entailed a bone spur that had caused a tear in his labrum. The injury affects him financially, since he had to play in 70 games this season to bump the $2.5MM partial guarantee on his salary next season to a full guarantee of more than $5.845MM. Webster was determined to try to play through it, going so far as to use balance-correcting glasses to keep him from leaning too heavily on his right side, but he has yet to make it into a game so far this season.
“We tried everything else and I just wasn’t getting the results that I wanted,” Webster said, according to Castillo. “So I wanted to go out and get it taken care of rather than playing this season in some discomfort and then wait until the offseason to get it taken care of and then rehab the whole offseason and then try to find a rhythm come training camp. I’d rather take care of it now.”
Webster was adamant that he won’t retire because of the surgery, noting that a doctor told him that he has an 85% chance of returning to play at some point, Castillo writes. The early end of his recovery timetable would have him back by late March, though six months would likely wipe out his season.
Doctors would have to determine that Webster is likely to miss the season for Washington to be able to apply for a disabled player exception worth half of Webster’s nearly $5.614MM salary this season. The Wizards have a full 15-man roster, and Alan Anderson is out until sometime next month. Still, Washington doesn’t qualify to apply for a hardship provision of a 16th roster spot.
Does the DPE, if granted, enable the Wizards to sign a 16th player as J. Michael suggests? Or would they somehow need to create room?
No, it would only give the Wizards an extra cap exception, sort of like the mid-level. It’s the hardship provision that allows teams an extra roster spot, but the Wizards aren’t close to qualifying for that. Hope that clears it up for you!