Who Is Trevor Booker?

Averaging less than 12 minutes a game, Washington forward Trevor Booker has emerged from obscurity to log 79 minutes over the Wizards' last two games while filling in for flu-stricken JaVale McGee. Booker capitalized on this unexpected opportunity, posting back-to-back double doubles. On Friday, he racked up 21 points and 12 boards. On Saturday, he posted 12 and 12. Incredibly, he connected on 14 of 19 shots over those two games. Not so incredibly, he failed to record a single assist, steal, block, or three pointer.

With McGee likely to return any day, Booker will almost certainly return to obscurity. However, the question will remain: Is he someone we should look out for in the future? To help determine an answer, let's look at the rookie's background.

Booker played his college ball at Clemson. In his junior year, he averaged 15.3 points, 9.7 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 1.5 steals, and two blocks a game while shooting 57% from the field and 71% from the stripe. He led the ACC in rebounding and shooting percentage and finished second in blocked shots. In the summer after his junior year, he won a bronze medal playing with Team USA in the World University Games. In his senior year, he averaged 15.2 points, 8.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.3 steals, and 1.4 blocks while shooting 52% from the field and 59% from the line.

In the 2010 NBA Draft, Booker was drafted by the Wizards with the 23rd pick in the first round. So far in his rookie campaign, he's averaging 3.8 points, 2.3 rebounds, 0.3 assists, 0.4 steals, and 0.3 blocks in 12 minutes a game. He's shooting 53% from the field and 69% from the foul line.

Judging by past performance, what could we expect from Booker if he were to start logging 30 minutes a night on a regular basis? Well, on one hand, he probably wouldn't provide quite as many points and rebounds as he has over the last couple of outings...and of course you could not expect him to keep shooting 74% from the field. On the other hand, he would most certainly produce more in the way of blocks and steals...and his field goal percentage would still be way above average. All in all, you could probably expect somewhere around 10 points, eight rebounds, an assist, a steal, and a block per contest along with a 50-55 FG% and 60-70 FT%. Those are definitely serviceable fantasy numbers in most leagues. Of course, if the youngster improves with experience, those projections would go up.

So, yes, keep an eye on the big kid in the capital. He has the stuff to be a fantasy factor at some point.