Felton Facing the Heat in The Bob?
If you're not on the East Coast you might not have gotten a glance at Bobcats PG/SG Raymond Felton. Recently he buried a game-tying 3 pointer against Cleveland giving him his first notable Sportscenter coverage since his entry into the league in 05 as Charlotte's top overall pick. This is the type of story that seems to follow the basic formula of star college player adjusting to NBA learning curves. However, ask Charlotte's Fans what they think about the future of Raymond Felton and it may appear like every-town NBA USA moaning and groaning about top-picks that don't perform up to code.
While we can't be sure, we think that Charlotte fans may have a point. Felton looks like a career NBA backup in the molds of his backcourt-mate Jeff McGinnis (another NC alum) and Brevin Knight, the man he replaced in Charlotte. He has decent quickness but very little elevation and is struggling to find his niche against taller, quicker defenders. He also plays in an offense that has very little identity as defenses are not necessarily clamping down on obvious scoring options Jason Richardson and Gerald Wallace. They know that these 2 will not carry too damaging of a load on a nightly basis and by not doubling them they keep the Charlotte squad from developing any "team" rhythm. It's a sort of half-court dare that the opposition says "we'll play with you, but under no circumstance do we want to run with you".
The only way for Charlotte to truly know what they have is to give Felton the reigns immediately to see how handles it. He needs to become a distributor-first, and then become a competent scoring option should the defense start to let him score similarly to the way teams defense smaller, quicker offensive players like Tony Parker, Chris Paul, and Steve Nash. Given his pedigree and the brief flashes of brilliance he has displayed, it doesn't seem out of the question that he could be the man at "The Bob". Charlotte and Jerry West need to decide this now, however, not later.
Keep an eye on the amount of available cap room Charlotte has for free agency this off-season as free agents-to-be Jermaine O'Neal and Elton Brand could make them contenders in the East should they decide Felton can take them to the next level. If they cannot bring in quality low-post talent, look for them to try to deal Felton or bring in another point guard to compete (perhaps Daniel Gibson should Cleveland be stupid enough to get rid of him).
This question underscores the dilemma facing Charlotte brass as to whether or not Felton and Okeafor are going to take them to the next level. Okeafor was drafted to be the center or power forward of the future. The smart money says that he could be a great complimentary player, particularly on defense, but he doesn't have the shooting talent to be an impact player at this level. With the middle of the lineup solidified with a strong 1-2 punch in Gerald Wallace and Jason Richardson it's clear that the point guard and center spots need to materialize for Charlotte's current strategy to work. If there's anybody who can evaluate talent it's Jerry West, but he'll have to admit major mistakes before scrapping one or both of them to acquire the PG or C that they need.
While we can't be sure, we think that Charlotte fans may have a point. Felton looks like a career NBA backup in the molds of his backcourt-mate Jeff McGinnis (another NC alum) and Brevin Knight, the man he replaced in Charlotte. He has decent quickness but very little elevation and is struggling to find his niche against taller, quicker defenders. He also plays in an offense that has very little identity as defenses are not necessarily clamping down on obvious scoring options Jason Richardson and Gerald Wallace. They know that these 2 will not carry too damaging of a load on a nightly basis and by not doubling them they keep the Charlotte squad from developing any "team" rhythm. It's a sort of half-court dare that the opposition says "we'll play with you, but under no circumstance do we want to run with you".
The only way for Charlotte to truly know what they have is to give Felton the reigns immediately to see how handles it. He needs to become a distributor-first, and then become a competent scoring option should the defense start to let him score similarly to the way teams defense smaller, quicker offensive players like Tony Parker, Chris Paul, and Steve Nash. Given his pedigree and the brief flashes of brilliance he has displayed, it doesn't seem out of the question that he could be the man at "The Bob". Charlotte and Jerry West need to decide this now, however, not later.
Keep an eye on the amount of available cap room Charlotte has for free agency this off-season as free agents-to-be Jermaine O'Neal and Elton Brand could make them contenders in the East should they decide Felton can take them to the next level. If they cannot bring in quality low-post talent, look for them to try to deal Felton or bring in another point guard to compete (perhaps Daniel Gibson should Cleveland be stupid enough to get rid of him).
This question underscores the dilemma facing Charlotte brass as to whether or not Felton and Okeafor are going to take them to the next level. Okeafor was drafted to be the center or power forward of the future. The smart money says that he could be a great complimentary player, particularly on defense, but he doesn't have the shooting talent to be an impact player at this level. With the middle of the lineup solidified with a strong 1-2 punch in Gerald Wallace and Jason Richardson it's clear that the point guard and center spots need to materialize for Charlotte's current strategy to work. If there's anybody who can evaluate talent it's Jerry West, but he'll have to admit major mistakes before scrapping one or both of them to acquire the PG or C that they need.
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