Debating John Lucas vs Sebastian Telfair as Raptors Back-Up Point Guard

The Toronto Raptors made one of the few moves on trade deadline day by acquiring Sebastian Telfair from the Phoenix Suns for a second round pick and Hamed Haddidi. This trade shocked few fans as the Raptors needed another point guard on the roster after Jose Calderon was moved in the Rudy Gay deal.

Toronto must now decide who should come off the bench for Kyle Lowry. John Lucas has played exceptional on offense since the trade, averaging 9.3 points in just 16 minutes per game and shooting a ridiculous 62 percent from the beyond the arc.

Although those stats are impressive, Lucas has been a streaky player throughout his career and it would surprise no one if his numbers dipped dramatically over the next couple months.

While Sebastian Telfair has never lived up to the hype after he was drafted straight out of high school by the Portland Trailblazers, he has still become a solid player in the NBA. Over his career, he has averaged 7.5 points and 3.5 assists per game and has become a very good on the ball defender.

Telfair has also developed solid chemistry with Rudy Gay, Kyle Lowry and Alan Anderson as all four have trained together in Las Vegas during the summer. Like Gay, it will not take him a long time to gel with his new team.

While Lucas has been more than serviceable since taking the role of back-up point guard, he is not the facilitator and defender that Telfair is. Telfair fits well into Dwane Casey’s system, and should see about 15-20 minutes per game as the Raptors chase the eighth seed in the East.

Even if Telfair doesn’t re-sign with the Raptors this summer, this is a good trade for Toronto as they gave up very little to acquire a solid back-up point guard.