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A tweener in basketball is a term, sometimes used derisively, for a player who is able to play two positions, but is not ideally suited to play either position exclusively, so he/she is said to be in between. This term is most commonly used only at the highest level of basketball competition, where players must combine extreme physical talent with specialised basketball abilities. A tweener has a set of skills that does not match the traditional position of his physical stature.

NBA.com's definition of 'tweener is as follows:

"This word is derived from the word "between", as in a player is between the height of a guard and a forward. "Tweeners" often have the skills of a big man, but the height of a guard. Though only six foot five, Charles Barkley, a tweener, was one of the NBA's greatest rebounding power forwards."

A player who is ideally suited to play two positions is often referred to as a swingman.

This tweener has the skills of either a Center or a Power Forward but is usually stronger than traditional Power Forwards and quicker than traditional Centers. Many times C/PF tweeners are used to create match-up problems. Amare Stoudemire is an example of such a player. Other prominent players who switch between Power Forward and Center are Jermaine O'Neal, Pau Gasol, Tim Duncan and Dwight Howard, among others.

Traditionally a PF/SF tweener refers to a basketball player whose physical attributes and skills render him/her unsuited to play either the power forward position or the small forward position. For example the player may be too short, or lack sufficient strength, to play power forward effectively; while being not quick or athletic enough to play the small forward position. Some examples are Antoine Walker, Lamar Odom, Antawn Jamison, Marcus Fizer, Drew Gooden, and Al Harrington. They have the skills to play either forward position, but do not necessarily fit either forward position exclusively. They can be too big for most opposing small forwards to guard them and have a skill set that small forwards traditionally have (ex. outside scoring ability). A typical example of a European combo forward was Toni Kukoc.

This tweener isn't suited to exclusively play either small forward or shooting guard. For example, he may be too short to play small forward, but lacks a guard's jumper or ball-handling skills to play the two-man. To counter this, this tweener could play as a Swingman.

Some swingmen have been known to play both the small forward and shooting guard position effectively, having the size and strength to play the small forward position, as well as the outside jumpshot and quickness to play the shooting guard position. These tweeners are known to cause matchup problems, and have proven to be very difficult to guard. Such a players are Kobe Bryant, Paul Pierce, and Tracy McGrady.

A less common use of the word 'tweener' is to describe a player who combines shooting guard and point guard attributes in a manner unsuitable to play either position exclusively. Such players are also known as "combination (or combo) guards".

Most commonly, shooting guards are called 'tweeners' when considered too short for NBA-level competition. Conversely, they are unable to play point guard successfully at the highest level of professional basketball due to a lack of the mental specialization and understanding of the game that this position requires. These players are often referred to as being "a shooting guard trapped in a point guard's body." Some good examples of this are Allen Iverson, Gilbert Arenas, Jason Terry, Juan Dixon, Steve Francis, Eddie House and Luther Head. This is in stark contrast to pass-first type point guards who traditionally play the position such as Luke Ridnour, Jason Kidd, Andre Miller and Steve Nash among others. A great example of a European combo guard is Panathinaikos' Vasileios Spanoulis.