Raymond Felton could be Portland Trail Blazers secret weapon in next NBA season
Portland Trail Blazers had a good last regular-season, as they achieved a 48-34 record in order to get their hands on the 6th spot in the Western Conference standings. However, when the Trail Blazers went into the postseason,
they weren’t fortunate enough to pass through the current champions Dallas Mavericks, which were well familiar of Portland’s weaknesses and exploited them well to clinch the quarter-finals series by 4-2 record.
However, the Trail Blazers hadn’t lost hope after the disappointing ejection from the contention to the Larry O’Brian trophy. As, the Blazers had recognised their weaknesses and to deal with them the franchise made a arguable trade
that gave away not just veteran star Andre Miller, but also Rudy Fernandez to the Denver Nuggets so as to get an up tempo point guard in their roster.
This brought 27 year old Raymond Felton to Portland, who is a product of University of North Carolina, where he had played under head coach Roy Williams. Initially this deal made a lot of buzz in the league, because Miller was
solid player for the Trail Blazers, who had terrific two seasons with the franchise.
Moreover, Miller used his size and experience well during his time with the team in order to dominate the smaller and quicker opposing guards. However, the major reason behind shifting Miller was his age, as he turned 35 this year
and with that a decline can be seen in his stamina and quickness. So this gave birth to the idea of bringing in a younger point guard.
Miller seemed a better than Felton, but on close inspection of these two’s statistics, we have found out that Raymond has a prominent edge over Andre. As Felton hold a better shooting percentage from the three-point region, which
Miller failed to provide to the Trail Blazers. Miller averages .204 percent from beyond the arc, while Felton maintains .333 percent shooting rate from the same area.
In addition to that, presence of another strong player on the floor will also attract the opposing guards and that will help Portland’s offensive threat LaMarcus Aldridge a great deal, as his rivals usually double-team him up.
Most importantly, Felton is a great transition period player, as he had swung the pendulum towards his team on several occasions with his whooshing threes.
Another added advantage that the Trail Blazers will have with Felton is his up tempo game. Previously, during the Miller era, the Trail Blazers used to attempt half court offense and moves the ball around in order to defer the
key offensive players of the opposing teams.
Last but not the least; Felton brings along with him a remarkable chemistry that he shares with small forward Gerald Wallace. The 29 year old Wallace is famous because of his wild in and out moves with unparallel physical play.
As the 25th overall pick from the 2001 NBA Draft, uses his 220 pound and 6 foot 7 height in the best the way one can think of.
Together with Felton, Crash (Wallace’s nickname) will form an unbeatable duo that will be the highlight of the next NBA season. Just as the two did when they used to play for Michael Jordan’s Charlotte Bobcats, along with Stephen
Jackson, whose inclusion completes the trio back then.
One of the fine qualities that Felton has is flexibility and once he gets settle down with the Trail Blazers, it’ll be a nightmare for the rival teams and considering what Raymond brings to the table makes him a perfect secret
weapon of the next NBA season.
Tags: