Breaking Down Raymond Felton's Game In Dallas (Videos)

We continue with Part 2 of our 3-part series highlighting the three veteran Dallas Mavericks point guards. Today, we take a look at the other piece in the Tyson Chandler trade, Raymond Felton.

Raymond Felton is talented. But he also comes with plenty of baggage. The Dallas Mavericks have overlooked the baggage and felt confident enough to take him in the Tyson Chandler trade.

Here’s what we know right now with Felton: It’s early October, the preseason is starting soon and Felton is still on the roster. Considered to be a trade chip that the Mavs could use down the road, Dallas is confident in rotating their three point guards.

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Before we get into the breakdown of the former North Carolina star, a little background on the other new Dallas point guard.

Felton is entering his 10th year in the NBA this season and the Mavs will be his fifth team. Stats wise, it’s kind of odd that Felton hasn’t found a permanent home. He’s averaged double digits in points in every season except one. That was last year with the aforementioned baggage.

The former fifth overall pick has averaged 13.1 points and 6.5 assists per game. His breakout season came in 2010-11 where he played the first 54 games of the year with the New York Knicks, and averaged a career-high 17 points and nine assists per game. He could’ve very well been an All-Star for a Knicks team that had just acquired Amar’e Stoudemire over the summer and was playing like a title contender up until the All-Star break.

Then the Knicks traded away Felton to Denver for some guy named Carmelo Anthony, and Felton hasn’t been the same player since. He’s averaged 11.6 points per game in his last three years, including a career-low 9.7 points last season.

So what’s different about Felton? Well, he says he’s a lot happier now that he’s out of The Big Apple.

Via Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News:

"Raymond Felton is smiling these days. That may not sound like a big deal. But it is.Regardless of the crowded house at point guard on the Mavericks’ roster or his legal troubles from last season that have been taken care of, the nine-year veteran has gotten his grin on during training camp.As for getting his groove on during games, he’s certain that will come.“Way more, without a doubt,” Felton said when asked if he’s smiling more now than when he was with New York. “I’m happy. Very happy. You can see it yourself. I’m definitely happier for sure.”"

That’s a good thing. You always want a happy point guard, I think. But you always want a happy point guard who can pass the ball. Even though Felton’s points have taken a dip, he still averaged 5.6 assists per game last season, which doesn’t sound too bad when New York had no idea what to do with that team.

Much like Jameer Nelson as we highlighted in Part 1 (by the way, you can click here and read that if you missed it), Felton’s passing is crisp. Yes, you want that in a point guard at all times. But the one thing about Felton that’s different from Nelson is his eyes while on the run.

For the purposes of this demonstration, we’d like to think of Raymond Felton before he was treated like scum before being shipped to Denver for Carmelo. So take a look at this pass on the run to find Danilo Gallinari for the jam.

I really like the vision on display. This is what made Felton such an elite prospect coming out of North Carolina: His quickness, combined with his vision, can give a team fits in transition. That vision worked wonders for the likes of Amar’e Stoudemire, pre-knee problems.

Check out this pick-and-roll with Amar’e against Felton’s new team, the Mavs.

When you’re being coached under Mike D’Antoni, assists will come aplenty. That’s why he averaged nine per game in his first year in New York.

But while Felton can make his money being a fine-tuned distributor, he may be able to score points, but not effectively. Felton has only shot better than 45 percent from the floor once in his career, and that was his final year in Charlotte.

He’s not going to be relied upon to score points, which is why when Rick Carlisle rotates point guards, you’ll see Devin Harris playing minutes at backup shooting guard more than Felton.

But when Felton does score, he makes nice plays like this.

He might not be the same point guard he was back in 2010-11, but Felton is in the kind of position to be a key piece in this Dallas rotation. Even Mark Cuban said it himself: The Mavs like to get those fallen angels that no one thinks can do anything anymore.

Even if Raymond Felton is playing 78 games this year, he’ll be called upon to provide some crucial minutes for the Mavs.

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Dallas Mavericks: Raymond Felton’s Passing Is Underrated

By Danny Webster | Oct 7, 2014