FanNation - The Republic of Sport

   Today, the Minnesota Timberwolves opted not to extend a qualifying offer to a point guard who averaged nearly 6 assists (on a nearly 3 to 1 assist/turnover ratio), a steal, and 9 points per game last season. At the moment, the Portland Trail Blazers only glaring gap is at the point guard position- specifically in the role of a ball distributing, playmaking PG. It sounds an awful lot like a great opportunity for the Blazers to fill a need via free-agency, right? There is just one catch though... the name of this point guard is one Portland is quite familiar with, and the memories that accompany should make a team and it's fan base skeptical.

   Sebastian Telfair left Portland with the image of a collosol bust- a much hyped lottery selection who did not live up to his billing, showed a general lack of maturity, and generally did not seem to get "it", whatever "it" represented at the time. When Telfair left the Trail Blazers, the consesus here in P-Town was that the general manager who drafted Telfair ought to be run out of town and the sooner we could drink away the memory of this debacle, the better. Since that time, Portland has moved on quite nicely and we now boast a team full of promise and on the cusp of greatness. Sebastian who?... no, it hasn't been that long, but the radical change in culture on the hometown heroes has done much to heal the scars of yesteryear... Enough about us though, what ever became of old Sebastian?

   Sebastian Telfair's story since leaving Portland has been one of hard knocks, tough lessons learned, and perhaps one last chance to redeem himself as a valuable player in this league. Remember, the knock on this guy from day one was that Telfair seemed to have this sense of entitlement and ego that prevented him from becoming a productive NBA point guard. I remember a time here in Portland when the team was desperately trying to get through to Sebastian about how to run an NBA team, and Telfair's response was, more or less: "The team will just have to adapt to me because I am who I am and I refuse to change". His tone and demeanor brought haunting visions of his cousin Stephon Marbury to mind. A subsequent incident at an airport regarding an undeclared fire-arm basically sealed his file in Portland and declared Telfair another X-file. After 2 seaons of frustration, the Trail Blazers gave up on Telfair and shipped him to Boston.

QUE COLD WATER ON FACE!!!

   In Boston, Telfair was no longer viewed as the promising young point guard with super-star potential. That much hyped documentary ESPN made about "Bassy" leading up to his draft day? Not quite forgotten, but now used as prime evidence in most cases against the preps-to-pros agrument. In Boston, Telfair was just one of 3 point guards fighting for a starting job. The character and reputation he earned in Portland now weighed him down more than his pre-draft hype had lifted him. Telfair spent one frustrating season in Boston, where by several accounts, he learned to work hard and seemed to finally realize that being a point guard in the NBA means sacrifice and effort. He was traded to Minnesota last summer and it appeared that Tefair was at a crossroad in his career. If he did not "figure it out" during the next season in Minnesota, his career would likely be over. He was really a long shot to make an impact, as the Timberwolves already had Randy Foye, Rashad McCants, and Marko Jaric in the point guard mix- with Foye and McCants being priority players for the T-Wolves to develope. It seemed nearly impossible for Telfair to make enough of an imprint to either be resigned by Minnesota or courted by another team in free-agency.

   Enter Minnesota's 2007-08 season: Having just traded away Kevin Garnett, the Wolves were now in full rebuilding mode. Suddenly, the urgency to develope players like McCants, Foye, and Al Jefferson became 1 million times more important. If it were not for a time sapping injury to Randy Foye, Telfair would likely have slipped quietly out of the NBA. But when Foye went down, suddenly Telfair was thrust in to the spotlight again. Given a chance to prove his improved work ethic and poise during his exiles to Boston and Minnesota, Telfair did just that during the last half of the season. Yeah, his shooting and shot selection still need a lot of work, but his assist to turnover ratio last season showed dramatic poise and improvement over his first 3 seasons. His minutes, steals, and rebounds all ascended to career highs. Even his much-maligned field goal percentage rose to a career high while his fouls increased by only decimal points. Nobody is going to say that Telfair on the verge of becoming a superstar, but it is hard to argue that -after 3 1/2 seasons of underwhelming and unfocused play- Sebastian Telfair finally seems to be getting "it". Teams looking for a point guard this offseason (including Miami) are already beginning to express an interest in Telfair's reformed skill-set.

   So here's my question to the Portland Trail Blazers: wouldn't it be great if we gave Sebastian another chance and he wound up becoming just the kind of playmaker we need to run our promising young team? The signs of growth, maturity, and the kind of work ethic that comes only from being to the bottom of the barrel seem to finally be manifesting in Telfair, and guess what- he's still only 23 years old. Detroit once took a risk on a point guard in much the same situation, and Chauncey Billups has developed into one the NBA's best point guards. I'm not saying that Sebastian Telfair is another Chauncey Billups, but it will not surprise me one bit if a few years down the road Telfair has turned himself in to a steady starting point guard in this league- which is exactly what Portland needs to complete it's puzzle.