Sebastian Telfair

"Bassy" has had a tumultuous NBA career after being a highly touted prep-to-pro player from New York's storied Lincoln High School. Telfair did a decent job as Steve Nash's backup last season, but, unless Marshall shows that he isn't ready for the speed of the NBA, expect minutes for Telfair to be few and far between in the upcoming season.

“Bassy” has had a disappointing NBA career thus far after being a highly-touted prospect out of Lincoln High School in New York. The Suns will be his fourth team in four years, and he will try to keep the Suns functioning on offense when Steve Nash is on the bench. It’s unlikely to see him getting over 20 minutes per game as Nash’s backup, but if something were to happen to Nash, Telfair would be put into the spotlight.

He'll begin the season as the backup point guard to Luke Ridnour with Johnny Flynn injured, but the T-Wolves don't seem to high on him since there was talk he would be moved after he was acquired last summer. Still, Ridnour isn't a lock to keep the starting job, so Telfair may be worth a speculative bench spot in deeper leagues.

While he probably won't get the 30 minutes per game he averaged the past two years in Minnesota, Telfair should make a very solid backup to Davis. Another guy who excels in transition, Bassy looks to be settling in during an up-and-down career and should fit well with this team.

The 2004 first-round pick revived his career after coming over to Minnesota in the Kevin Garnett deal. He took over the point guard role once Randy Foye went down with a knee injury and showed he could become a good distributor of the ball with 5.9 assists per game and a 3.1/1 turnover/assists ratio. It's not clear if Foye will be the starter at point guard or move to shooting guard, but Telfair should get significant minutes at point guard in either scenario. While the offense will still flow through Foye's hands much of the time, Telfair should be a cheap source of assists.

The New York City playground legend and 2004 first-round pick saw his status fall so far that he was but a throw-in for the Kevin Garnett deal and looks buried on the T-Wolves depth chart. However, all may not be lost as head coach Randy Whitman has said he'd like to give Randy Foye playing time at shooting guard and give Telfair a look at point guard. It seems like a long shot, but Telfair has the opportunity to turn his career around in a wide-open competition for playing time with the rebuilding T-Wolves.

Telfair’s every instinct as a basketball player is to run and gun. In Portland, his primary responsibility was “walk it up and feed Zach Randolph in the post.” Doesn’t take John Wooden to see that something ain’t right in that setup. Recognizing that their two young stars weren’t compatible, Portland management decided to build around Randolph, and sent Telfair to Boston. This is a match made in heaven – the Celtics are made to run, and they have plenty of young legs that are just itching to get up and down the court. Look for an across-the-board improvement in Telfair’s numbers this season, as we’ll finally get to see him play his game.

Telfair’s rookie season averages don’t tell the story. The rookie was glued to the bench in the early season, but he gradually worked his way into the rotation and eventually, the starting role. In March he posted averages of 9.8 points and 5.3 assists on 40% shooting in 32 minutes. In April he improved to 12.5 ppg, 6.7 apg, 45% shooting and over 35 minutes. And he’ll head into this year as the starter. With guard guru Nate McMillan running the show in Portland, continued improvement is a sure thing, and it doesn’t seem crazy to project his April numbers over the entire 2005-06 season.

Telfair, a New York City playground legend, was Portland’s first-round selection in the 2004 draft out of high school. Because of his youth, he will not be given a lot of playing time. He will be third on the depth chart at point guard behind Damon Stoudamire and Nick Van Exel if he manages to make the active roster coming out of preseason.

Is a great pure talent. Averaged 30 points per game but has great court vision. Can elevate and dunk on anyone. The two question marks heading in are his strength and his jumper. Both have improved this year but he needs to improve on the longball.