The Milwaukee Bucks will need to prioritize cost over everything in NBA free agency. This makes Ray Felton a good fit.
The Milwaukee Bucks probably weren’t going to have cap space anyway, but Greg Monroe opting into the last year of his deal on Wednesday ensured the Bucks will not have money to spend in NBA free agency.
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That means Milwaukee has to look for some … economical options in free agency this time around. One such option could be Raymond Felton, known to some as Felts, but to many more as Ray Felton.
Felton just finished his first and likely only season with the Los Angeles Clippers, and it went okay. The Clips got killed with him on the floor, but that’s sort of what happens when Chris Paul checks out of Clippers games.
If the Bucks end up losing Matthew Dellavedova or Tony Snell in free agency, and subsequently using Malcolm Brogdon (or Delly, if he’s not traded, seeing as he’d be better as not a point guard) more as a wing player, Milwaukee could develop a need for a backup point guard.
Could Raymond Felton be an answer? He’s not a top backup guard in the NBA, but he’s had some good years throughout his career. To decide if he’s a good NBA free agency target, we’ll look through his strengths, weaknesses, potential salary and his fit with the Milwaukee Bucks.
Strengths
Ray Felton has been almost surprisingly dependable over the last two seasons. He missed four total games in that time–two in 2015-16, and two more in 2016-17. For a 6’0″ point guard in his 30s, that’s pretty good–especially when injuries around him forced him into action.
In his last year with the Dallas Mavericks, Felton was pressed into starting duty, entering the starting lineup 31 times. Saying he was good might be a stretch, but Felton was certainly passable that season.
In 27.4 minutes per game, Felton averaged 9.5 points, 3.6 assists, 3.2 rebounds, and 0.9 steals. He shot 40.6 percent from the field, a percentage weighed down by the mere 28.2 percent of his triples that Felton converted on.
Since this is the strengths section, let’s focus on the positives. Last year with the Clippers, Felton pushed that three-point percentage up to 31.9 percent, which still isn’t very good but it’s definitely better than what he shot in 2015-16. It’s fair to call Felton an occasional shooter; for his career he’s hit 32.7 percent of his triples.
Weaknesses
The Clippers were a bad team with Ray Felton on the floor last season. The drop from Chris Paul to just about anybody is going to be severe, but Los Angeles’ offense simply ceased production when Felton was in the game most of the time.
With Felton on, the Clippers scored 104.6 points per 100 possessions. No player who tallied 1,000 minutes cause the Clips’ offense to function worse. With him off, Los Angeles managed to score 114.6 points per 100 possessions.
Bad news gets worse, sometimes: the Clippers defense was also at its worst with Felton on the floor, among players who played at least 1,000 minutes. That’s a good nine Clippers, and out of them all Felton made the team as bad as it got. That’s not a great sign.
Still, it doesn’t necessarily mean he should be written off entirely. The Clippers have never had a bench, so if CP3 was out and Blake Griffin was either injured or on the bench, there was almost nothing for Felton to work with out there. That being said, it’s clear Felton needs some help to be any sort of effective at this point in his career.
Salary
I like using contracts signed in recent years to provide context here. I could throw out that Ish Smith got $6 million per season last summer, or that other guards got paid a whole lot even if they weren’t all that good, sort of like Felton except still kinda better.
Those examples really aren’t necessary though, because Raymond Felton himself signed a contract last summer. He got veteran minimum for a single season with the Clippers, a deal he will likely seek to find again this summer.
With the salary cap not going up much, or at all, just one year after a ton of big contracts were signed to mediocre or worse players, NBA free agency will not have so many huge deals going to role players. That means less of the Ish Smith kind of guys making $6 million each year, too.
Truly though, none of that matters much to Felton’s free agency. Even in the massive cap climate last season, he signed for vet min. That might speak to his desire to play for a contender in Los Angeles who couldn’t pay any more than that, but if Felton tests the open market this time around better deals likely will not surface.
Fit With Bucks
The Milwaukee Bucks need a point guard who can provide a scoring threat, and pull up from three-point range regularly. Ray Felton is … not that. His best single season three-point percentage came back in 2009-10, when he hit 38.5 percent of his triples.
He took just two threes per game that season, and hasn’t come close to that mark since. With the New York Knicks Felton hit 36.0 percent of his threes in 2012-13, which is the second-best shooting season he’s ever had, by percentage at least.
Unless Giannis Antetokounmpo‘s three-point stroke is a very real thing now, the Bucks shouldn’t have interest in a point guard who can’t shoot. Felton’s regression in recent years is very worrisome for his future as an NBA player.
He’s had some good moments, especially in New York and Dallas in the last several years, but Raymond Felton does not seem like a player the Milwaukee Bucks should target in NBA free agency. His lack of a consistent jumper means he doesn’t add anything that Matthew Dellavedova or Malcolm Brogdon can’t do.
Honestly, Gary Payton II getting minutes would be better than seeing them go to 32-year-old Ray Felton at this point.