Jahmyl Telfort Scouting Report
Positional size, strength, and creativity are must-haves for today's wings. That's where Jahmyl Telfort's game translates to the next level. Here's why I believe he can carve out a role in the NBA:
Jahmyl Telfort (#11, Butler): Senior, 6'7"
Small Forward — Born: April 30, 2001 (23 years old)
Introduction
Durability is the name of the game when it comes to Telfort. He played in all 66 games during his two-year tenure at Butler, ranking sixth in the Big East in minutes per game. While scoring sixteen per game, he earned All-Big East honors despite an underwhelming season by the Bulldogs. As a fluid self-creating scorer, Telfort offers secondary playmaking duties. He fits the mold of NBA coaches seeking skill and handles in all positions. The physical aspect of his game feeds the versatility that’s needed for today’s wing to succeed.
Carving out a feasible role is the sole purpose of this scouting report, and I’ll describe his long-term potential. The NBA readiness and recent invitation to the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament will lead him to generate more buzz as we get closer to June.
Physical Profile
At 6-foot-7, Telfort is built like a rock. He has a strong upper body and a well-filled frame. His broad shoulders and strength-based game helps him to be versatile on both ends of the floor. He lacks true burst but has tight enough handles to create separation off the dribble. He is a good athlete, with his core strength being the main selling point of his physical profile.
He has big hands and long arms. There is no official measurement available, but he should measure out at about 6-foot-11. He’s coordinated and uses his strength when defending, with his strength being the switchability to play physically against taller wings while he’s fluid enough with his feet to stop smaller guards.
Telfort has an NBA-ready body at 225 pounds, which helps him to get accustomed to the next level compared to his peers.
Offense
Catch-and-shoot
At 36.1%, Butler has the best shooting year of his five-year career. He’s not a volume shooter but can develop into one in a role with fewer ball touches. He’s quickly adapting from ball-heavy responsibilities to being the recipient as a weakside option in the corner. He’s decently quick to set his feet but has a slow release. The arcing point is high enough, especially considering the extra length. His process is characterized by a strong pivot foot that keeps him flexible to use jab steps to potentially attack closeouts. For the NBA, he has to continue to increase his volume to build up his shot leverage.
In the first play below, Telfort does well to actively demand the ball in the corner, strongly pivoting with his left, which helps him to position himself well for the quick trigger after the catch. But he’s losing time in lowering the ball, as Telfort is strong enough to keep the ball high. He again demanded the ball in the second possession, but lowering the ball put Telfort in a difficult position as he didn’t position himself well to attack the closeout. That forced him to jab before the contested three. Working on keeping the ball high to create a quicker release is a must for NBA coaches. That puts him in a much better position to leverage his shots with shot-fakes rather than jab steps against quick closeouts.
Passing, ball-moving and playmaking
At over three assists per game and an assist-to-turnover ratio greater than 1.5 in back-to-back years, Telfort shows a positive impact with his decision-making as a passer and playmaker. He’s thriving in his role to serve as a secondary creator outside of his scoring-heavy role. His size and good handles help him to create advantages and punish incoming help after dribbling penetration or schemes where teams hedge or blitz him. His strength advantage in his downhill is his leverage to ensure more than two eyes on him from opponents.
In the first play, he sees over the defense. He’s actively chasing cutters before dishing the side pass to the elbow. His strong pivot keeps him flexible to either attack the closeout or make the pass. His strength also helps him to create out of the post, as shown in the second possession. He’s using post-entry passes to draw help while having the size to punish mismatches. As a quick decision-maker, Butler shows his ability to make tough passes, with the third play as an example. His instincts and positional awareness feed his positive playmaking as a wing.
The separating part for NBA scouts is his creativity. He’s using his footwork and strong pivot to ensure flexibility. In the last play, he’s selling the defense that he’ll use the weak side ball screen before rejecting it and exploding the rim while immediately punishing the forced rotation with the wide-open corner as the recipient of his side pass. I expect Telfort to continue to serve as a secondary playmaker at the next level.
Closeouts
Telfort’s best in punishing closeout defenders with his physicality, but the other side of the coin is that due to a lack of burst and his strong build, he lacks the speed to generate paint touches at will. That’s the main reason why his below 55% rim-finishing and low volume around the rim are what they are. Regardless, Telfort has an excellent floater game in his arsenal. That’s his main trait and a vital part of what the numbers won’t show you. He’s good at aggressively attacking a defender’s chest to ensure separation to get off his quick floater.
In the first play, he’s creating space from a standstill by using his tags and good handles to keep the ball away from defenders. That’s his weapon to generate enough room with his chest attack to get his floater off. He’s a right-hand dominant scorer, but his touch is consistent and reliable. The area of concern is the lack of balance on Telfort’s last step. In the first and second play below, he needs too much time to ensure his balance before releasing the floater. But that’s not an issue for the NBA as his strength is the main separator.
But his one-handed finishing might get in his way. In the third play, Butler shows a decent burst to punish the mismatch, but instead of finishing with his left, he has to bring the ball back to his right for a more difficult finish. That’s another reason for the below 55% rim-finishing, as the chart above shows. But that’s mostly compensated by his great touch and fluid hips. In the fourth play, he shows a smooth spin move, keeping the ball on the weak side, and ensuring his dribble penetration to get two feet inside the lane. Creativity and skill are vital parts of what NBA scouts seek to add to their depth of wings.
Pick-and-roll
Long-term potential to evolve as a scorer is a vital part of the evaluation of wings. For Telfort, his strength is a plus, but that’s mostly taken away by his lack of speed. Despite averaging around two fouls for the majority of his career, he can be too aggressive against smaller defenders. His must to attack a defender’s chest makes him more vulnerable to commit offensive fouls, with the first play as an example. Another area of concern is Telfort taking his time to decide how he’ll create out of the pick-and-roll. That’s partially on Butler’s slower pace, but Telfort has a share in that. His decision-making has to be quicker, considering how much NBA teams want to maximize possessions and play at a faster pace compared to what Telfort’s used to in college basketball.
A positive is Telfort’s ability to generate fouls. He’s averaging five attempts from the charity stripe, finishing these at a 77% rate. Another positive is Telfort not wasting dribbles when creating shots. He’s mostly a midrange-oriented scorer but has added a one-dribble three as a pullup shooter, with the third play as an example. It’s not feasible to expect Telfort to become a volume ball handler in the NBA, but his effectiveness as a closeout attacker will lead to him generating more self-creation opportunities. Despite the right-handed dominance, Telfort’s touch and strength are two aspects NBA scouts will appreciate.
Next up: Defense
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Defense
Pick-and-roll
Telfort’s strength helps him to navigate through screens effectively. However, he doesn’t show consistent awareness of incoming ball screens. That’s an area where he struggles to keep crafty ball handlers in front of him after fighting through the five setting the screen. Regardless, his positioning makes up for most, as Telfort actively tags his assignments while using his physicality to try and take away balance from scorers. He’s not operating through fluid movement but more with physicality and setting the tone early in the play to make ball handlers beat him off the dribble.
The positive in his profile is that Telfort slides his feet well. In the first play below, he’s not biting on jab steps. That’s where he matured his game throughout the years. Regardless, that changes when he’s affected by a ball screen. In the second possession below, Telfort doesn’t position himself well after the dribble penetration. He should always prioritize getting as close to the rim as he can, but instead, Telfort positioned himself further away. That led to the easy two points.
He’s much more fluid in the third play below, where he’s tagging the screener and uses a pushoff as a cushion to get back to the ball handler. This time, he’s positioned more toward the rim. This allowed Telfort to use his physicality to bother the scorer’s layup as much as possible. He’s also good at recognizing switches. In the last play below in garbage time, Telfort uses the push-off against the drag screen to try and take away the three early in the clock.
Hand-offs
One of Telfort’s strengths is defending against handoffs. We see more NBA teams being forced to run handoff actions as five-out-styled plays take away the interior presence in a perimeter-heavy set. That’s where Telfort adds value and can grow into a good defender in the NBA. He’s great at tagging potential ball handlers immediately entering the lane. Hereafter, he shows good footwork to try and position himself to absorb the bump early, whereas Telfort knows he has the physical advantage in most cases.
However, at times, he’s too reliant on drop coverage. The first play shows an example against one of the worst three-point-shooting teams in the Big East. Of course, he’s following up the scouting report. The positive in this play, despite the made shot, is Telfort embraces physicality, despite him dropping too far, which allows the scorer two feet deep inside the paint.
The second possession shows a good angle of how Telfort fights through screens and then wins the positioning battle. Instead of reacting to the ball handler who tried to lure Telfort out of the interior, he positioned himself to the scorer’s driving lane. Hereafter, it made it easier for Telfort to time him absorbing the blow. His active and big hands then led to the steal and transition offense. He has over a steal per game in three consecutive seasons, with these sequences being the majority.
His success continues in the third play below. Telfort actively tags the screener and immediately dives into the driving lane to absorb the contact. That’s the value of his strong upper body for NBA scouts, as Telfort wins most of these balance battles after colliding with opponents. Despite the basket in the last play below, the process remains the same. I expect Telfort to be a good defender against handoffs, potentially earning himself a niche role further in his career.
Closeouts
Telfort’s defensive profile becomes even more appealing when considering his consistent and good closeouts. The game has slowed down for him on the defensive side of the ball. He’s composed and patient and barely bites on jab steps or ball fakes. That helps him to put more focus on his timely closeouts where he shows a decent last step. Telfort slides his feet well, and despite the lack of burst, he’s embracing contact early to force scorers to beat him off the dribble. The positive of his technique is that Telfort can build a reputation as a stopper where opponents might attempt more threes against him, whereas it adjusts it much easier and effectively.
The first play below shows a good example. The only area of concern is that Telfort watched if the ball went in rather than positioning himself for the boxout. The defensive rebound fell his way as it was more luck than planned. Despite the made basket in the second possession, Telfort shows he’s forcing ball handlers to adjust to his strength by being physical early in the play to deny access to the paint, as the opponent settled for a pullup midrange shot instead.
The third possession is a good example of how composed Telfort stays. His closeout leads to entry to the paint. Hereafter, the scorer tries to put Telfort in a blender with his repeated spin moves, but he remains patient and cleanly contests the hook shot. The positive for NBA scouts is Telfort’s active rotations as well, with the fourth play as an example. Overall, the lack of speed will cause issues, but a majority of the rest of his skills as a closeout defender scream that he belongs in the NBA.
Catch-and-shoot
The positive in Telfort’s closeouts against shooters is that he doesn’t take any possessions off. On top of his durability, his motor is consistent, and it shows in the intensity with which he dives against the shooter. Despite the made shot in the baseline out-of-bounds play in the first possession, Telfort spins off his assignment well to fill in the rotation. That continues in the second possession, where Telfort responds as a help defender to the cut through the middle, where he’s planting his last step well to elevate his burst to get back to the perimeter.
However, the part to work on for Telfort is his sprinting on his closeouts, where he keeps his head down, as shown in the fourth possession. That takes away the value of his positional size at 6-foot-7, as he makes it easier for opponents to shoot over the top. Regardless, his consistent rotations form the base for Telfort to add value to a team’s defensive rating with him on the floor. That’s well visible in his closeouts.
NBA Draft Projection
Based on the strengths and areas of development mentioned in this scouting report, I project Jahmyl Telfort to earn himself a two-way contract as an undrafted free agent. As an invitee to the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament, Telfort can put himself in a good position to continue to show how he can thrive in his role. Hereafter, the path to earn an invite to the G League Elite Camp is one of the possibilities.
Regardless, I expect Telfort to carve out a role in the NBA in the next few years. He’s experienced and his scalable role on offense while his stellar defense puts him in a wanted position in terms of wing depth. The lack of speed is something an NBA coaching staff has to figure out, but the rest of his physical tools and how Telfort uses them scream that he belongs in the NBA.