Round 5, Pick 10: Raymond Felton, PG, Charlotte Bobcats

A day before training camp begins for the Charlotte Bobcats, Felton predicted that the team would make the postseason.  Yes, it’s okay if you’re laughing, but for those of you who are, note that Felton says that the Bobcats are going to get that respect.  That gusto and confidence is an intangible you like to hear about from a player on your fantasy basketball team, which is why I’m going with Felton here.  He’s a proven winner, winning an NCAA Championship while at North Carolina and he developed very well as the season progressed, earning his fifth overall draft position amongst a great class of point guards, such as the Utah Jazz’s Deron Williams and the New Orleans Hornets’ Chris Paul, who eventually won the Rookie of the Year award.  However, what if I told you that Felton wasn’t so far off from Paul, overall, when Felton finally started for the Bobcats and got regular burn on the floor?

Don’t laugh because even if Felton’s prediction for his real team doesn’t come true, if you pay attention, it can happen for your team.

Felton didn’t get to consistently start until February of last season, so let’s compare Felton and Paul during the three month time period from February to April:

Felton averaged 37.6 mpg; 16.6 ppg; 7.4 apg; 3.9 rpg; 1.5 spg; 1.9 3pg; 40.7 FG%; 79.1 FT%
Paul averaged 36.2 mpg; 15.9 ppg; 8.3 apg; 4.5 rpg; 2.2 spg; 0.7 3pg; 44.3 FG%; 87.8 FT%

As you can see, Felton gets the slight edge in points and a major advantage in triples made.  But, Paul pretty much wins in the other categories.  Regardless, looking at Felton’s numbers, they are still very good.  Paul is just a special player (which is why we’re the official sponsor of him at Basketball-Reference.com), but with a healthy team (remember, Emeka Okafor, Sean May, and Gerald Wallace were injured for major stretches during the season) and the addition of Adam “The Stache” Morrison, Felton has the chance to be just as special. 

But, what about that pesky Brevin Knight?  There’s no question that Knight is still capable of producing, particularly in assists and steals, but the direction the Bobcats are going points to Felton becoming the starting point guard.  And because of his ability to score, Felton could slide over to the two if Knight is on the floor, as they did at the end of last season when Knight was healthy.  But, Felton is Obi-Wan Kenobi and Knight is Qui-Gon Jinn and it’s the end of The Phantom Menace, so get ready for Felton to take over as the Bobcats’ Jedi point guard.

How He Fits On This Fantasy Basketball Team

Felton adds more scoring punch, the potential for high assists (he did average 9.0 apg the last month of the season), treys made, and rock-ripping to this team that is anchored by front court players.  Felton’s percentages, while a bit low from the field, is easily picked up with said frontcourt players, while his percentage from the line is a very acceptable, dare I say good, 80% or so.  Overall, the composition of this team will have them doing well in most of the standard nine categories.

May the force be with them… always.

Other Team Members:

1.11. Yao Ming, C, Houston Rockets
2.2. Andrei Kirilenko, SF/PF, Utah Jazz
3.11. Ron Artest, SF, Sacramento Kings
4.2. Kirk Hinrich, PG/SG, Chicago Bulls