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August 31, 2009
Little movement in Felton-Bobcats talks
Raymond Felton and the Charlotte Bobcats aren't much closer to a long-term deal, with a month left until training camp.
"It hasn't changed much for the better,'' Bradbury said of negotiations with the front office. "We've had conversation and we hope we'll reach agreement...
"There hasn't been a ton of movement.''
Bradbury maintains that Felton, the team's starting point guard, wants to be in Charlotte for the long haul. Felton could sign a one-year, $5.5 million qualifying offer that would make him an unrestricted free agent next summer. But Bradbury said they wouldn't consider doing that until long-term options are exhausted.
It's Bradbury's understanding that the earliest the Bobcats could hypothetically rescind that qualifying offer is Oct. 1. I'd find it unlikely the Bobcats would do that, since they'd lose the option to match any other team's contract offer to Felton.
I'm sure it's neither side's preference for Felton to play out this season and reach unrestricted free-agency. But I wouldn't be surprised if that's what ends up happening.
Posted by Observer Sports on August 31, 2009 at 03:40 PM | Permalink
Comments
If the Bobcats really don't want to give Felton a long-term deal, why don't they just politely ask him to make a deal elsewhere, and then give Allen Iverson $5m/year for the next year or two?
Posted by: Richard | Aug 31, 2009 4:02:04 PM
as much as i want the bobcats to bring in iverson and let him run wild, i don't see how they can do it without felton playing point. i get the feeling this is going to end ugly.
Posted by: charlottean | Aug 31, 2009 4:29:42 PM
Looks like Raymond and his agent are on different pages...see below
Felton: We're close to contract
MYRTLE BEACH, SC (WMBF) - Latta High School alum Raymond Felton says he and the Charlotte Bobcats are close to a new contract.
The former UNC Tar Heel was in town playing at Detroit Piston Chris Wilcox's charity golf tournament, which raised money to fight lupus.
Felton is a restricted free agent with the Bobcats, meaning he can sign with any team but Charlotte has a chance to match the offer. Both parties have been negotiating for a while without a resolution, but Felton thinks a deal is coming soon.
"We're close, we're close," said Felton. "Maybe before training camp, something will be done. If not, I gotta do what I gotta do."
The Marion native says he's happy with his current team and he wants to stay in Charlotte.
"I'm not going anywhere," said Felton. "That's where I want to be. I feel like that's my second home at this point, so there's nowhere else I want to be at the moment."
Posted by: Jimmy | Aug 31, 2009 4:44:43 PM
Letting Felton walk away would be a huge mistake for the Bobcats. Is he an elite point guard? No, but he is a solid NBA starter and is just entering his prime. You have to hang on to those types of assets, or at least trade them for comparable value. You can't just let them walk out the door as free agents.
The Bobcats heel-dragging strikes me as more of a penny-pinching move than a basketball decision.
Posted by: G'boro Cats Fan | Aug 31, 2009 4:46:39 PM
Sticky situation. Raymond may not be the long term PG (LB clearly favors Augustin), but he is a great guy by all accounts and very strong in the community... it would be tough to see him leave but like he said he may have to do what's best for him and his family.
Posted by: David | Aug 31, 2009 4:48:14 PM
Felton seems to be a good, hard working player with a really good attitude, that you can count on every night.
Sign him to a reasonable contract and move on.
Posted by: Marty Hurney | Aug 31, 2009 5:00:57 PM
no matter what happens, Bobcats are obligated to pay Felton the $5.5mm for 2009-2010 year - there is no way out for the Bobcats - it's a guarentee.
Posted by: bobfan1 | Aug 31, 2009 5:10:26 PM
WTF??? Come on Cats....cant get cheap with our PG!
Pay him or not, we need players in here...either get AI or pay Ray Ray
Posted by: Bobcat Terry | Aug 31, 2009 5:35:43 PM
Jimmy:
The agent and Ray are on the same page. I think the key statement in that interview was Felton saying, "Maybe before training camp, something will be done. If not, I gotta do what I gotta do."
That's consistent with what the agent said above.
Raymond tries to be polite and diplomatic in interviews. I suspect that's what the "we're close'' comment was about.
Posted by: Rick Bonnell | Aug 31, 2009 5:41:46 PM
Let him play his contract out and definately get AI. We need Iverson for some offense
Posted by: Ehis Murphy | Aug 31, 2009 6:06:27 PM
Raymond is here for nrxt year unless the Bobcats are fools an rescind their qualifying offer. He will be here next year, and should be signed long term. Iverson is not the "answer" anymore, and I don't think MJ would bring him here.
Posted by: MajorLeague | Aug 31, 2009 6:49:13 PM
That Grizzly ol' Iverson, he belongs out there in the land of Elvis.
Posted by: MajorLeague | Aug 31, 2009 6:52:41 PM
Sign AI. Make DJ our starting point. Trade Ray Ray to Dallas for Brandon Bass. Solves lots of issues!
Posted by: Hoagie58 | Aug 31, 2009 7:43:22 PM
I suggest signing felton to a long term contract starting at $6 million, package him with Bell and send them both to the Knicks for David Lee giving him $9 million per. Then you can sign A.I. for 2 or 3yrs at $4 million per.
Posted by: Larry | Aug 31, 2009 7:49:26 PM
...except that Bass signed with the Magic and the Knicks are only willing to commit $3 million to PG Ramon Sessions on the 2010 books, so they wouldn't want Felton past one year either...
Don't you see why nobody wants this guy? You cannot win in this league if Felton is your starting PG. A very poor shooting, small, lazy and poor defending gaurd who cannot take over or dominate in any situation.
Tell me why some of you want him? Cause we gotta lock him up just like we had to lock up, who, Matt Carroll? Or re-signing Okafor long term? How'd that work out?
Posted by: Nick | Aug 31, 2009 9:09:16 PM
If AI come to charlotte. I can see coach brown leaving next year. Now when the bobcats signed him, I hear a lot of people saying he is going to stay here for 2 years. So we are giving him all the excuses to leave next year. Don't play with fire.
Posted by: AP | Aug 31, 2009 9:14:09 PM
New definition for asinine: People who want AI on their team.
Posted by: koolaidmansux | Aug 31, 2009 9:25:46 PM
Major League - even if Bobcats 'rescind the qualifying offer', Felton is still guaranteed the $5.5mm; Bobcats have no way out of that. "rescinding the offer" would hurt the Bobcats as they would turn Felton from a Restricted Free Agent into a Unrestricted Free Agent. Bonnell points that out somewhere above your post.
Larry - check your Base Year Compensation Rules. It screws up trades for Lee....it's hard to trade him. Knicks use his BYC of $4.5mm in any trade scenario, but the counterparty would need to use the $9.00mm in the same trade scenario, which makes it hard to get the math to work with Lee.
Posted by: bobfan1 | Aug 31, 2009 11:43:25 PM
I hate you all.
Posted by: Biscuitville | Aug 31, 2009 11:47:28 PM
Bonnell- get some damn sources and find out how much the bobcats are offering
Posted by: WestBlvdBobcat | Aug 31, 2009 11:59:03 PM
AI is the answer. Felton doesn’t shoot well enough to be on the floor.
Stonewall Felton. If it is impossible to rescind his offer before October 1, then do nothing and give him the choice. It would be nice if he would just go away.
I am not sure he could be traded anywhere. Perhaps, if the Bobcats sign Iverson soon, the Grizzlies might pick up Felton to play instead of Conley.
Posted by: Bill | Sep 1, 2009 5:36:13 AM
To all those who see Felton as a subpar PG, you got to be kidding me. He may not be an All Star caliber PG, but he is a top 15 PG. What can DJ provide that Felton cant? Sure maybe DJ shoots slightly better but DJ cant defend majority of PG's in the league. The only thing causing Felton to have such terrible shooting percentages is the fact that the Bobs dont have a go to player. Felton is about the only guy who can create his own shot, so therefore he takes some bad shots due to not having anybody to turn to in crunch time. Felton needs to be signed. Period. Let Felton walk and watch how much we regret it.
Posted by: Mr. Charlotte | Sep 1, 2009 7:29:12 AM
Mr. Charlotte's poorly thought out comments do not reflect on the city of Charlotte.
Felton is at best the 15th best PG in the league, probably more like the 20th best. He can't shoot and doesn't have a "PG head" on his shoulders. Is he a hard working player that shows up to play every night? Sure, but he doesn't get the NBA game. Keep shooting Raymond, even 28% 3pt shooters make those shots occasionally.
Felton is a better defender than DJ because of his size. Other than that, there is no doubt that in upcoming seasons DJ will be better in all other facets of the game than Felton. DJ is already a much better shooter and displays a better understanding of the game.
Posted by: Steve | Sep 1, 2009 7:49:14 AM
Richard - Iverson is not a point guard.
Posted by: Sascol | Sep 1, 2009 8:18:24 AM
Poorly thought out comments huh?!?! Well Steve-O, im pretty sure you dont have a "head" @ all if you think DJ can get the job done. Felton finally had a full year to figure out what being an NBA PG is all about. Prior coaches are to blame for Felton's progression or lack thereof. Yall people need to cut Felton some slack. If not, dig a hole and jump in it Steve-O.
Posted by: Mr. Charlotte | Sep 1, 2009 8:20:09 AM
steve o is right. This team is going nowhere with Felton & its clear DJ is the future. Felton makes horrible decisions with the ball & shoots a terrible percentage from the floor. He doesnt have a PG mentality & its clear hes reached his ceiling. Kind of like with Chokafor, we were just going through the motions & not really making serious progress. Wallace is the only untouchable on this team, build around him & let Felton walk.
Posted by: D.W.G. | Sep 1, 2009 9:43:29 AM
Take the 1 year qual deal then leave town in 2010 RF. CHLT never will amount to squat with current mgmt and coaching. Period.
Posted by: HitTheRoad | Sep 1, 2009 10:19:55 AM
the Bobcats have made a huge error thinking the Charlotte sports fan will support a bunch of Tarheels in mgmt and the team itself. 50% of this city hates UNC CH, and having players, gm, front office, and coaches from one school is bad for business.
Posted by: Tim | Sep 1, 2009 10:35:19 AM
Sounds like they are waiting on the new ownership.
Posted by: Musson | Sep 1, 2009 11:05:40 AM
I love how Steve calls out Mr. Charlotte for "poorly thought out comments do not reflect on the city of Charlotte" and then goes on to make completely unsupported and opinionated comments that are poorly thought out and do not reflect the city of Charlotte. Wow
Posted by: sfbobcats | Sep 1, 2009 1:26:05 PM
Thanks Rick
Posted by: Jimmy | Sep 1, 2009 1:27:25 PM
Yeah Steve-0, go get a "head" and cut some slack for him!! haha, good one. Felton needs to be shipped out. I would hate getting nothing in return though. I wouldn't mind him signing a one year that would make him an UFA next off season, but locking him up long-term would be a big mistake. I really think the two sides of this deal are far apart because Felton is wanting starter money and the Bobcats don't see him as their starter long term.
Posted by: mp | Sep 1, 2009 3:24:32 PM
Hey, all,
Just wanted to clarify something that came up in the discussion of this blog: I called NBA media relations, and they confirmed that under the collective bargaining agreement, teams can rescind a qualifying offer, starting Oct. 1.
As a practical matter, I think that's a moot point. The Bobcats want Felton on this team, so they'd have incentive to retain the right to match other teams' offers. And if it truly became clear the team and Felton couldn't agree on a long-term deal, then I'm confident Felton would just sign the one-year qualifying offer and get into training camp.
Posted by: Rick Bonnell | Sep 1, 2009 6:06:55 PM
No Steve-O is definately right on here. Felton is just like Okafor, their role on their team made them look better and inflated the stats for them. Okafor is not a top 15 big man, just like Felton might be a top 15 PG, but no higher than, like, 13th.
Bring in AI, bulk scorer.
Posted by: Nick | Sep 1, 2009 6:38:21 PM
Felton is good basketball player. He's not really proven himself to be a star player or a point guard.
The argument is often made that he's been hindered from playing the point guard position because of previous coaches (Bickerstaff / Vincent) playing Brevin Knight and Jeff McGinnis rather than Felton as the primary ball handler.
We have to wonder why Raymond never showed the talent and skill to overtake those guys at the position that so many claim is his true position. If he was obviously better suited that those players, he would have taken hold of the point guard spot and out-played everyone else on the roster. Unfortunately, he never did that and he's still being defended like a rookie that's just finally getting the grasp of his job.
The essential questions with the Felton or Iverson debate come down to Good Player or Star Player?
OK Point Guard or OK Point Guard?
Clutch Shot Misser or Clutch Scorer?
They both will cost about 5 million next year. Take your pick.
Posted by: Bobcats Baseline | Sep 1, 2009 8:21:41 PM
How bout a sign-and-trade with the pistons for Ben Gordon
Posted by: Josh | Sep 2, 2009 2:36:56 AM
bob johnson trades felton to t-wolves for ricky rubio. he loves rubio because he never signs a contract and johnson doesn't have to pay anybody.
Posted by: joe cool | Sep 2, 2009 6:06:43 PM
sign AI.. no need for felton if AI is on the roster. trade mohammad nazr and diop de sagana and get a better center..
Posted by: mjfan | Sep 3, 2009 11:59:14 AM
sign AI.. trade mohammad nazr and diop de sagana to a better center..
Posted by: mjfan | Sep 3, 2009 12:07:59 PM
Apparently today could bring a decision for A.I.
Posted by: mp | Sep 4, 2009 8:47:50 AM
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