Former high school basketball prodigy and NBA veteran Sebastian Telfair was sentenced on Monday to three and a half years in prison in his New York City gun case, per The Associated Press. Telfair, 34, was convicted earlier this year of carrying a loaded handgun in his pickup truck.
This was not Telfair’s first brush with the law nor his first incident involving a loaded weapon. He and a friend were arrested in 2007 after a traffic stop during which police found a loaded handgun in the vehicle. He pleaded guilty to criminal possession of a weapon and was sentenced to three years’ probation.
While he never lived up to the hype from his prep career, Telfair did have a relatively successful NBA career. He played 564 games over 10 seasons and averaged 7.4 PPG and 3.5 APG.
There’s more NBA-related news to pass along this evening:
- Former Magic and Timberwolves guard Marcus Georges-Hunt, now fully healthy, recently worked out for the Nuggets as he looks to work his way back to the NBA. According to Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic, the fully healthy 25-year-old Georgia Tech product also has several other workouts lined up the rest of the month.
- As first reported by Donatas Urbonas (Twitter link), top EuroLeague free agent and former NBA player Johnny O’Bryant has signed with Lokomotiv Krasnodar (Twitter link) of the Russian VTB United League. O’Bryant, a second-round pick in the 2014 NBA draft, played four seasons in the NBA with the Bucks, Nuggets, and Hornets.
- Sam Vecenie of The Athletic would draft Bucks forward and 2018/19 MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jazz big man Rudy Gobert, and Trail Blazers guard CJ McCollum with the top three picks in a re-draft of the 2013 NBA Draft. None of the three went higher than No. 10 overall six years ago.
I hate those “re-drafts” because they make the writer seem like he would have done that back when the draft occurred. NO ONE would have taken Giannis 1st in 2013. Oladipo? Sure. Embiid? Yeah. I would even buy Nerlens Noel. But Anthony Bennett was not completely out of the blue either. He was projected in the top 5 in just about every mock done back then. He just didn’t work out.
Plus it’s the butterfly effect. If Giannis went to Cleveland, there is no guarantee he would have developed into a superstar. If Gobert went to Orlando, he might have ended up like all the other forgotten players drafted by the Magic. And if Anthony Bennett had started somewhere else, he might have done a lot better to. If Joel Embiid had been picked by a team that cared one bit about winning, he might have been rushed as well, and he might be out of the league with Greg Oden.
It’s silly fun, but with so many variables it is completely ridiculous to think any of it would have been possible.
Besides anyone not taking Embiid or Oladipo ahead of McCollum is not worth listening to anyway.
McCollum needs to be away from Lillard like Olidipo needed to be away from Russ.
Dipo may always be more valuable due to defense and fit with smaller PGs like Collison but it’s close due to 3pt%.
BTW not Embiid’s year.
The Cavs claimed they wanted to trade down but nobody wanted to move up given the choices. Also that the Bennett alternatives were Ben McLemore and Alex Len, so Cavs fans were doomed. I would have liked McCollum as a NEOhio kid, but they had just drafted Irving & Waiters. As a GM I probably would have taken Cody Zeller since he seems to prefer staying local and Varajao was hard to negotiate with.
Ah you are right. Embiid was in the Wiggins draft. I knew it was one of the 2 #1s that the Cavs traded to Minnesota.
I always thought Ben McLemore was going to be much better than end up being. But he was another in the long line of Kansas one and done guys that disappointed as pros. KU has had a couple of good ones, but most are not good. Xavier Henry. Josh Selby. Josh Jackson.
Agree, I always thought B-Mac was going to be a good NBA player, but just never got it going…I wonder how his career might have turned out differently had he gone to say the Spurs and was coached up differently…
Then again, you could say that about every big talent, that didn’t live up to expectations..Still though, I always liked McLemore, but guess I was wrong too..
Dude just stop man I seriously don’t know why you hate the Blazers so much. Dipo averaged 16 PPG next to Russ and still hadn’t even established himself as the player he became the next year in Indiana. McCollum has averaged 21 PPG playing next to Lillard for the past 4 years. McCollum plays better with another ballhandler on the floor, whether it’s Damian Lillard or when it was Evan Turner. Look up the numbers. Russ and Dipo were a bad fit because both of them need the ball in their hands, CJ can actually play off ball. Those Thunder got eliminated in the first round and only won 1 game. The Blazers just went to the Western Conference Finals. Stop acting like CJ and Dame don’t work as a backcourt. Obviously CJ could put up 27 PPG if he was a higher usage player with no help, but he doesn’t need to be that. He’ll do what he’s always done, which is shoot ~45/40/85 and make big time shots. Having two players who can close out a game is crucial. Lillard eliminated the Thunder last year in game 5 and McCollum closed out game 7 against the Nuggets. They CAN and DO coexist and both still are able to play to their strengths. They’ve made the playoffs EVERY YEAR. Seriously stop hating on teams that you don’t even watch it makes you look extremely ignorant.
Hiflew is the one that liked Dipo more than McCollum; I said I’d like CJM on my team paired with Irving or Waiters (Dion was okay at PG). And like you said, CJM would score more with someone complementary that leaves him more shots. I’m sure he did great with Turner and will with Bazemore/Hezonja: a big PG makes the best pairing, not another version of himself (Lillard).
I’m down on Portland now because they didn’t keep their team together; instead, they acquired other teams’s rejects. That’s Olshey, not me. Either fact or opinion, not hate. I’m not obligated to like every team’s chances. Previously I was neutral.
As for Russ+Dipo, seems like you expounded on my point, except I see Dipo scoring off the ball all the time. The issue is unbalanced scoring, and that is probably the most common criticism of the Blazers.
Can’t spell jealousy without lousy
That why they play the games
hiflew…..
What? That doesn’t even make any sense. If you are going to insult me, at least make it clever.