Telfair to the Raptors Screams of Meh

It’s trade deadline day in the NBA and any potential move in a period lacking star power is going to get a heap of attention. Al Dannity can’t get his head around Toronto potentially moving for Sebastian Telfair.

Some moves scream bust, others scream bargain. Most fall somewhere in-between, Sebastian Telfair to Toronto may just be the most middle-of-the-road of the lot. A player with a slightly below average true shooting percentage, albeit one that has shown signs of improvement over the last four seasons, and averages solid but unspectacular minutes off the bench. The move would add depth to the back court but it’s not the move you make if you’re serious about making a push for the NBA post-season. Certainly not when you’ve got the kind of ground to make up that the Raptors do.

Sitting a solid 5 wins behind the current #8 seeds Milwaukee, the Raptors need more than just a boost in back-court depth. Losing Calderon led to Rudy Gay coming to town but with John Lucas already performing ably, one has to wonder if there’s really a need for another point guard at this stage of the season. The stats show Telfair and Lucas as being virtually identical this season in terms of performance. All you really get by bringing in the Phoenix Sun is some capable of doing what the back-up you already have does.

Of course it’s unfair to look at a trade purely in terms of what comes in, what goes out could be a bigger motivation for the Raptors. Linas Kleiza’s name has come up in trade rumours and the Lithuanian is having a dreadful season. Rarely featuring, when he has played Kleiza’s numbers are awful. Moving Kleiza would, on paper, make this a smart move but there’s a bigger factor to consider. In the debut season for Jonas Valanciunas, it doesn’t hurt to have another player that speaks his language and is a veteran national team member warming the bench.

The one move the Raptors really need to avoid is giving up a draft pick. Telfair would only merit a second rounder but Toronto doesn’t want to hurt its future contract situation. Telfair isn’t a big cap hit but a second round rookie in 2013/14 is even smaller. Considering the role Telfair would play is back-up to the back-up, the smarter strategy is to hope to acquire someone serviceable in the draft.

Of course Bryan Colangelo might pull a rabbit out of the hat and trade Andrea Bargnani for Josh Smith but he’s not that good a hustler.