Sebastian Telfair

Overview: A young point guard who didn’t have the polish to live up to the lofty expectations people had for him coming out of high school, but may still develop into a solid backup. Doesn’t have ideal size or length for a starting point guard on the NBA level. Needs to pack on some muscle to compensate for his lack of size. Possesses good quickness and speed, but isn’t an explosive leaper. One of the flashiest ball handlers and passers around. Capable of setting up his teammates. Not much of a shooter or scorer, which greatly limits his effectiveness. Offers very little on the defensive end. A classic example of the dangers of the NYC hype machine. Led Lincoln High School (NY) to a state championship. Made a name for himself on the camp and AAU circuit at a very young age. Clearly could have benefitted from a few years of college basketball. Has gotten plenty of minutes to prove himself and thus has garnered an invaluable amount of experience at the NBA level. Constant changes of scenery may have hurt his development somewhat. Lack of physical tools, scoring ability and defensive potential makes him best suited to be a backup in all likelihood. Has had a few problems off the court. Cousin of fellow NBA point guard Stephon Marbury.

Offense: A very inefficient scorer that provides almost all of his value at this point as a distributor. Gets more than half of his offense running the pick and roll, but also gets some opportunities to spot up, push the break, and go one-on-one. Has a mediocre shooting stroke, lacking ideal form. Doesn’t get great elevation, making it extremely hard for him to shoot over defenders. Capable of hitting open jump shots, primarily from mid-range, but is extremely inconsistent. Isn’t yet capable of forcing defenses to respect his jump-shot, which hurts the flow of his team’s half-court offense badly. Not a very good shooter off the dribble either. Struggles to finish at the rim at a respectable clip. Lack of size hurts him. Has a nice floater, but will drive too far into the paint making it hard for him to use it. Does have the quickness to get some easy looks at the rim when he is able to blow by his man. Able to turn the corner with some regularity. Great ball handling ability with his right hand makes him tough to stay in front off. Defenses like to force him to use his left hand to finish and create, which is very underdeveloped compared to his right. Very good passer on the pick and roll. Nice drive and dish player. Won’t hesitate to make the fancy pass. Still improving his decision making. Not overly turnover prone, but will lose the ball when he gets too far into the paint. Needs to improve his shooting and scoring ability to prove that he can play starting caliber minutes on a winning team. Offers a lot as a distributor, but minimal value as a shooter and finisher.

Defense: Effort and physical tools limit his ability to be a factor on the defensive end. Lacks fundamentals, as well as strength, size and length, making him somewhat of a liability. Struggles to contain his matchup, as bigger players just push him around and shoot over the top of him with ease, and isn’t pesky enough to offer resistance. Has decent lateral quickness, but simply doesn’t use it often. Doesn’t get in a good stance, allowing himself to get beat off the dribble by much less athletic players. Shows a willingness to come over a help out when playing off the ball, but is too small to be a factor contesting shots when he has to recover. Lack of physical strength makes it very hard for him to run through screens. Not much of a rebounder either at his position. Will stay in front of his man in one-on-one situations when he’s playing hard, but will see a lot of shots made over his outstretched hands. Offers some value as a full court defender and shows active hands. Needs to realize that he must give 100% on the defensive end in every moment to make up for his lack of size. Hasn’t faced the type of competition needed at his position to do so.