For the Raptors, Telfair is primarily insurance. John Lucas III has played well as Kyle Lowry’s backup since Jose Calderon was traded, but Toronto didn’t have a third point guard or a combo guard capable of swinging to the position. The Raptors could have signed a free agent, but that would have meant waiving Haddadi and eating his salary. This way they saved somewhere between $75,000 (a rookie) and about $200,000 (a veteran) on the cost of a replacement, and they also got a better player in Telfair. I’m not sure that’s worth a second-round pick likely valued at somewhere in the neighborhood of a million dollars, but it’s not a huge loss either way.
ESPN Grades Telfair Deal for Raptors: C-
For the Raptors, Telfair is primarily insurance. John Lucas III has played well as Kyle Lowry’s backup since Jose Calderon was traded, but Toronto didn’t have a third point guard or a combo guard capable of swinging to the position. The Raptors could have signed a free agent, but that would have meant waiving Haddadi…
