Martell Webster's demotion prompts 'What ifs?'

Lorenzo Romar insists he has never played the "what-if?" game with Martell Webster.

Not even after hearing this week that Webster had been sent by the Portland Trail Blazers to the NBA's Developmental League after struggling to earn playing time.

But others at Washington have.

"It would have been really special if he had come here," Washington guard Brandon Roy said of Webster, who played last year at Seattle Prep, signed with the Huskies in November 2004, then declared for the NBA draft last spring before ever suiting up for the Huskies. "We would have been really good."

Webster declared for the draft after being assured that he would be a lottery pick. He was the sixth player taken, and signed a four-year contract worth a reported total of $12.1 million, with two years guaranteed.

"It's hard to turn that down," Roy said.

Still, Webster's NBA struggles inevitably lead some to wonder if he would have been better off attending Washington for a year or two.

Webster, who averaged 4.2 points and 1.1 rebounds in 28 games, was designated Sunday to play in the Developmental League, essentially the NBA's minor league. He will begin play this week with the Fort Worth (Texas) Flyers.

In explaining the move, Portland coach Nate McMillan told the Vancouver Columbian that "he looked like a young kid who needed to play basketball more." Webster did not speak with reporters, with McMillan admitting that Webster was "disappointed" by the move.

Webster would obviously have had a major role with the Huskies, possibly teaming with Roy in a backcourt of potential first-round draft picks.

"If he would have come here, I think we would have been really good because of his ability to shoot the ball and my ability to take a lot of pressure off of him to where he wouldn't have had to feel like he had to carry the team," Roy said. "He could have been a freshman and had fun and make mistakes, and because of that, he would have played his best basketball."

Though many began speculating early last year that Webster would turn pro, Romar held out hope until the very end that Webster would become a Husky.

"I think I would say that 90 percent of everyone involved with Martell felt like it would behoove him to go to college initially," Romar said. "But he was given such a great opportunity as the sixth pick, it was hard for him to turn down."

Romar said he has talked with Webster several times since and Webster has never voiced any second thoughts.

"I am sure Martell has probably thought that going down to the D-League, people are going to start questioning whether he should have gone out," he said. "I'm sure that's in his mind. But I'm also pretty sure that in his mind, it's given him more motivation to make it happen."

And Romar says Webster "will make it happen," using Jermaine O'Neal as an example of a player who went straight from high school to the NBA, struggled early — he played just 45 games as a rookie — and now is regarded as one of the best players around.

Said Roy: "I've talked with some people who know him and they said he knows he made some mistakes, he wasn't working as hard as he should have been, and he's ready to bounce back."

Roy thought about heading to the NBA out of high school, and again after last season. He said he can't compare his situation to Webster's since he was never a projected lottery pick. But he's glad he enrolled, and stayed at Washington.

"In my heart, I would have liked to have seen him come to Washington because I feel like the things I've been through here have made me not only a better person, but a better basketball player," Roy said.

"You come to college and nobody looks at you as a star anymore. You're just another guy on the team, and that would have been great for him."

Notes

• Mike Jensen said he will be able to play Thursday against Oregon State without the protective brace on his shoulder. Jensen has worn the brace on his surgically repaired left shoulder since returning Dec. 23. "Whenever you have something like that on your body, you just feel a little irregular," he said. "It'll be nice to feel regular."

• Among Oregon State's reserves is Jack McGillis, a freshman from Missoula, Mont., who planned last spring to walk-on at UW before being offered a scholarship by OSU. He is averaging 1.7 points and 6.6 minutes per game.

"We were ecstatic he was going to walk on," Romar said. "But we didn't have a scholarship for him and when word got out that he didn't have a scholarship, people started offering him, and it's hard for him to turn down a scholarship. It made sense for him."

Bob Condotta: 206-515-5699 or bcondotta@seattletimes.com