Per hoopsworld...seems to make a lot of sense to me.  It would be the along the same lines of thinking when they extended Trout before last year.

Why Not Martell? Deron Williams, Chris Paul and Andrew Bogut are the only members of the Class of 2005 to agree to early contract extensions this summer. The odds are they won't be the only ones, but who else could it be? Raymond Felton? Marvin Williams? Jason Maxiell? Who has proven themselves enough to earn the money and the team's commitment?

How about Portland's Martell Webster? While the snickers die away for a player who has averaged 8.2 points and 3.1 rebounds while shooting 41% from the field and 37% from three-point range for his three-year career, there a couple of very good reasons why general manager Kevin Pritchard and the Blazers should consider doing just that.

1 – It would be cheap. If Portland could get three more years tacked onto the end of his deal in the $10-12 million range, isn't that a decent investment? It could be for both sides. Webster hasn't proven himself a valuable player – yet – but he has started 115 games in three years. He's also likely the team's starting small forward this year, because of Coach Nate McMillan's preference to keep Travis Outlaw with the second group and the fact Rudy Fernandez probably can't play much at the three. Giving Webster a modest raise for a short period of time could set him up for a possible big paycheck in the future while guaranteeing some money, and the team could get his services for cheap while banking he outperforms the deal by keeping his starting job on a team expected to be a conference challenger in the next 2-3 years.

2 – It wouldn't affect the desire to have cap space in 2009. When the contracts of Raef LaFrentz and Steve Francis come off the cap next summer the Blazers supposedly want to go after a big name. While it would seem like extending Webster now would go against that desire by adding another guaranteed deal, the opposite is actually true. Webster will make just under $3.8 million this season and become a restricted free agent next July. The qualifying offer for Webster is just over $5 million, but the hold his slot places on the cap is a max money deal because he was drafted sixth overall and restricted free agents on rookie scale contracts have cap holds of 300% - or a max contract, whichever is lower. Webster gets the max slot of over $13 million. By signing him now to a cheaper deal – let's just say $5 million – that reduces Portland's cap holds next summer by $8 million, essentially giving them more money to work with. Portland will not renounce their rights to Martell Webster for nothing – not part of the modus operandi – and so unless they plan on trading Webster between now and next July, at least opening talks about a shorter, economical extension seems like savvy move for the team. And as we all have seen, Pritchard is no stranger to savvy moves.

So, dear readers – who else might be worth getting an early extension from their team, in a move that might make things easier for them down the road? Should the Pistons talk with Maxiell, since he could still be cheap since he's coming off the bench and now having to deal with the impact of Kwame Brown on his minutes? Should the Cats talk with Felton even though they just drafted D.J. Augustin? Andrew Bynum in L.A.? Rashad McCants in Minnesota? Danny Granger in Indiana? Throw your ideas in the comments below.

Some of these would be risks to extend early because they haven't proven a ton yet, but the costs associated couldn't be any worse than taking a risk on a player who would be new to the system, the coaches, and the players already on the team.

If it works out, the team gets more cheap labor and the player can sign a bigger deal in a couple years then they would get next summer. If it doesn't, it's not the kind of contract that becomes an albatross around the neck of the team's salary cap.

FYI – For the Blazers Ike Diogu and Channing Frye could have similar impacts on Portland's 2009 summer plans. Their qualifying offers are $3.9 million and $4.3 million, respectively, but their cap holds are $11.8 million and $12.8 million. Portland will have to deal with those before they can go after a big name, big money free agent.

OD-Dog and Rudy were drafted in 2007 and Jerryd 'Fear-less' and Saint Nicolas were drafted in 2008, but all 4 of them are going to be playing in their 1st year of NBA ball during the 2008-2009 season and will be considered rookies.  Now, I haven't done any research on the subject, but I don't think that I'm going out on a limb to say that this rookie class that the Zer's are going to unleash upon the rest of the league this year should end up being classified as the best rookie class by one NBA team EVER!