After spending a second season with the Thunder in 2018/19, Raymond Felton hasn’t been on a roster – in the NBA or elsewhere – during the ’19/20 campaign. However, the 36-year-old point guard isn’t yet ready to call it a career, as he tells Alex Kennedy of HoopsHype.
Discussing his future, Felton said he thinks his agent has had conversations with NBA teams about the possibility of him being a substitute player in Orlando this summer. However, he’s not sure he’d feel comfortable playing at the NBA’s Walt Disney World campus if he received an offer. Still, Felton will aim to make a return to the court for the 2020/21 season.
“Oh, no question,” Felton told Kennedy. “It’d be like I was away for just one season and I would definitely be looking to try to get with somebody next season. I just want to play. I’m not retiring. I want to play. Even if I have to go across that water to play, I will. I just want to play basketball. I’m not ready to let the game go yet.”
Felton added that his “ultimate goal” has always been to play professional basketball for 16 seasons. He has spent 14 years in the NBA so far, so he’d like to play for at least two more seasons, or even three, if possible. The former UNC star stressed to Kennedy that he’s open to playing in an international league if no appealing NBA opportunities arise.
“This is the first time that I’ve actually been open to (playing overseas), just seeing the changes in the (NBA) and how they want to go younger and want to basically not even have veterans that much anymore,” Felton said. “It’s just one of those things where I’m like, ‘Okay, well, I still want to play…’ So even if I have to go play over there, that’s what I’m going to do.”
Felton appeared in all 82 games for Oklahoma City in 2017/18 as the team’s backup point guard, averaging 6.9 PPG and 2.5 APG on .406/.352/.818 shooting in 16.6 minutes per contest. However, he fell out of the Thunder’s regular rotation in ’18/19, averaging just 11.5 MPG in 33 appearances.
Felton a good back up. Mavs should of considered him instead of Trey Burke
Saying you want to play over & over doesn’t make it so. He does not want to play in Orlando, but December won’t see much change in the virus problem.