THUNDER REPORT CARD
Felton was ready when called down the stretch
RABBerry Tramel
aymond Felton went from backup point guard last season to third-team point guard this season to backup wing down the stretch for the Thunder. Billy Donovan showed a lot of trust in bringing Felton out of mothballs to play meaningful minutes when it mattered the most. Here are the grades for Felton's second season with the Thunder:
Readiness
Through two-thirds of the season, Felton had played in just 15 of 55 games and was shooting just 20 percent from 3-point range. You thought his career might be finished. But Felton played in 18 games the rest of the way, joined the rotation and shot 45.2 percent from 3-point range. Felton scored 15 points in a tough win over Portland, 13 in a loss at San Antonio and 12 in a victory in Milwaukee.
Playoffs
Billy Donovan stuck with Felton as a rotational player in the playoff series against Portland. Felton didn't play particularly well — he made just four of 13 shots in the series, scoring just 11 points, and his 6.9 points per 36 minutes was less than half of his total from the 2018 postseason — but his units were successful. The Thunder's standard B team of Paul George playing with reserves Felton, Nerlens Noel, Markieff Morris and Dennis Schroder outscored the Blazers by 17 points in 30 minutes.
Ballhandling
BFelton's turnover percentage (turnovers committed per 100 plays) was a career low 9.0 percent. His turnovers per 36 minutes were a career low 1.3, but his assists per 36 minutes (4.9) also were below his established levels. Some of that was because Felton played on the wing an estimated 38 percent of the time.
Aging
ADonovan rested Felton much of the year with the intention, Felton said, of using him late in the season. But not even back-to-backs slowed Felton. Three times Felton played on consecutive nights. Against Houston when Russell Westbrook was out, against Memphis when Terrance Ferguson was out and against Milwaukee when Paul George was out. In those games, all Thunder victories, Felton played an average of 17 minutes, shot 52.6 percent from the field and scored 8.7 points per game. Not bad for 34 years old.