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Deron Williams may not be the only point guard on the move in New York. Per reports, the New York Knicks plan on trading star point guard Raymond Felton during the offseason. In fact, he was told as much during his exit interview with the team.
New team president Phil Jackson made Felton’s availability known per SNY.tv, although New York’s interest in moving on from Felton has been fairly transparent throughout the 2013-14 NBA season. In fact, there was chatter about Felton being involved in a deal that could have landed Toronto Raptors star point guard Kyle Lowry. That deal has since been destroyed, as the Raptors have likely decided to simply sign Lowry to a long-term contract.
Felton, on the other hand, now knows what everyone else expected: that his time with the Knicks has run out. Felton struggled mightily last season, scoring just 9.7 points per game, while putting up a ho-hum 5.6:2.0 assist to turnover ratio. Add in multiple felony charges related to weapons possession stemming from last summer, and the writing was more than on the wall for Felton.
The good news is that Felton would probably welcome a change of scenery at this point, while there should be several suitors for his services. There is the obvious chance that the soon to be 30-year old could recommit to his conditioning and experience a bounce back 2014-15 season, while he’d only be on his new team’s books for two more seasons. In fact, he’d even have a player option for the 2015-16 season, in which he could opt out of his contract to become an unrestricted free agent.
While the former deal has been trashed, the Raptors could re-open trade talks if they struggle to lock up Lowry, while numerous other teams in need of point guard help could show interest in a potential deal. With Deron Williams on the trading block, the Brooklyn Nets couldn’t be completely ruled out as a potential trade partners, either.
