Unrestricted free agent point guard Raymond Felton says he could wind up back with the Knicks or the Blazers next season, while the Suns and the Nets are also in the mix, according to comments he made to Conan Gasque of SCnow.com (hat tip to Ben Golliver of Blazer's Edge). Felton, who turns 28 next week, says he's looking for a team that employs a fast-paced system similar to the one in which he thrived while playing for Mike D'Antoni with the Knicks.
“It’s big and it’s major in the NBA – no question about that,” Felton said. “I see a lot of guys who are great basketball players get into the wrong system and you never hear about them again. So I think that’s the biggest thing. But with me being a hard worker and me having the knowledge that I have of the game, I can go pretty much anywhere and play any type of system.”
The Knicks seem like less of a fit now with coach Mike Woodson than they were under D'Antoni, and as I mentioned earlier in examining the possibility of Jason Kidd in New York, they don't have much financial flexibility. Felton, who averaged career lows in points per game (11.4) and PER (13.4) last season, won't command a deal close to the two-year, $14.56MM contract he signed with the Knicks in 2010, and New York would likely be able to offer no more than their $5MM mid-level exception. That could be enough to sign him, but the Knicks appear to have plenty of point guard options, including Kidd, Jeremy Lin, and perhaps even Steve Nash, among others.
A return to Portland, where he played last season, seems even less unlikely, given Felton's subpar performance and rumors that the team will draft point guard Damian Lillard. The Nets could view Felton as a Plan B if Deron Williams doesn't sign, but the Suns look like the best bet among the four teams Felton mentioned. Phoenix coach Alvin Gentry has had success with up-tempo attacks, and the Suns may need a point guard if Nash leaves.
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The Knicks are re signing Lin. The question is not whether they use their MLE on Lin. That is a given unless the Knicks win the birds right case. The Knicks will need another PG to play significant minutes even with Lin on the roster, and they are hoping that a Nash, Kidd or even a Felton comes to play for the Knicks at a significant discount. Lets stop pretending like the Knicks would ever let Lin walk with all the revenue he brings them.
I feel the same and I thought it was a given. If we dont win the Bird rights he is our MLE, end of discussion. Dolan is all about the money and he would never let Lin go anywhere while he is hot, problem is when he cools off, we will be stuck with whatever outrageous backloaded offer we have to match to retain him.
Because of the Gilbert Arenas Provision Lin can only make around a maximum of 5 mil this coming year (whatever the ‘average salary’ is). He can however choose to sign a 1 year deal and hope he can get a bigger deal after the 12-13 season, either way he can’t get paid more than 12 mil for any year after this coming season.