Sebastian Telfair trade: Raptors give up pieces to get 3rd point guard

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The Toronto Raptors traded a future draft pick to bring in a third point guard in Sebastian Telfair. Was that really necessary?

The Toronto Raptors needed an extra point guard after trading Jose Calderon to the Detroit Pistons in the three-team Rudy Gay deal, and they got it by acquiring Sebastian Telfair for Hamed Haddadi and a 2014 second-round pick.

FOR THE RAPTORS

Telfair has settled in as a mediocre backup point guard over the past couple years, and he'll compete with John Lucas III for backup minutes behind Kyle Lowry. But I still wonder why Bryan Colangelo needed to trade for a third point guard instead of just signing one off the waiver wire.

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The upside of dealing for Telfair is that it costs less money, but the difference appears negligible. If the Raptors didn't make this trade, they would have likely negotiated a buyout or waived Haddadi, which would have cost $1.3 million pro-rated this year*, then signed a veteran or youngster, which could have cost another few hundred thousand, pro-rated. Alternatively, the Raptors could have waived Mickael Pietrus for half the cost of waiving Haddadi. This way, rather than sacrificing close to $2 million, pro-rated, on Haddadi and a replacement, they pay Telfair $1.5 million, pro-rated. So ... the financial difference is very small.

*: Not originally included in this analysis: Haddadi also has a $200,000 buyout for next season.

For that trade-off, they potentially get a better player in Telfair while sacrificing a decent future second-round pick. Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic reports that the Suns will receive the lowest of the Kings or the Raptors' own second-round pick in 2014, provided it's not in the top 36. The Kings are unlikely to make the playoffs, and the Raptors, while harboring hopes of making a jump next season, are certainly not locks. This could very well be a high-ish second-round selection in the 40-45 range. That's not much, but it's an asset that was needlessly given up.

I guess the Raptors think that Telfair is that much better than a point guard off the scrap heap, but I'm not so convinced.

GRADE: C-

FOR THE SUNS

Telfair had lost his backup job to rookie Kendall Marshall, so his presence wasn't needed on the roster. In return, they got a useful future second-round pick. That's not bad for a third-string point guard.

GRADE: A-