Raymond Felton Trade Rumors Tracker: Latest Updates on Blazers PG

At one point or another, it seems as though every point guard in the NBA has been rumored to go to the Lakers this season. Sadly, that isn't much of an exaggeration. Raymond Felton of the Blazers is the newest player rumored to be headed to Los Angeles. 

Update: Thursday, March 15 at 3:08 p.m. EDT by Alex Kay

Raymond Felton isn’t going anywhere according to Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports.

It’s now past 3 p.m. EDT and no trades have been announced involving the Portland Trail Blazers point guard.

The reason is likely that no suitors wanted to take on such a beleaguered player right now who is not living up to his contract whatsoever.

He’ll likely hang around Portland until the offseason and take a pay cut to sign elsewhere. 

Update: Thursday, March 15 at 10:35 a.m. EDT by Alex Kay

The trade deadline is less than five hours away and it's crunch time if the Trail Blazers want to move Felton before he becomes a free agent in the offseason.

Sean Deveney over at Sporting News has the latest update on the situation. 

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Portland has had less luck in finder a taker for Felton, though he is in the final year of his contract and will be a free agent next summer. Felton is averaging a career-low 10.1 points, and shooting 38.2 percent from the floor and 24.6 percent from the 3-point line. “They don’t want to take back any added salary in the Felton situation,” one West general manager said. “But he is not in shape and he is not going to add much to anyone’s roster at this point.”

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Felton is a shell of the player he was on the Knicks and Nuggets last year and no one wants to deal with him or the $7.5 million he is owed right now.

Portland would be content just giving the PG away, but it will be tough for them to find someone willing to bring him at this juncture. 

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Chris Haynes of CSNNW reported that the Lakers have expressed interest in Felton. 

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A league source has informed CSNNW.com that the Los Angeles Lakers and the Portland Trail Blazers have had “exploratory talks” regarding Trail Blazers' guard Raymond Felton.

According to the source, talks have been ongoing for weeks and it is likely to involve Lakers' guard Steve Blake in the deal.

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This fan wants this trade to go down, and has the numbers to back up his opinion. 

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Raymond Felton was averaging 17ppg and 9apg in NY. Steve Blake is averaging 6ppg and 3apg. Who's still against this trade?

— LA Lakers (@LakerFanClub) March 5, 2012"

As would be expected, other contributors aren't sold that this is a great move for the Lakers. 

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Also of note, Raymond Felton has a PER of 10.8 this year. That's marginally better than Blake's 9.7 PER.

— Darius Soriano (@forumbluegold) March 2, 2012"

The other end of the debate is the Blazers. Not all of their fans would be crazy about giving up Felton, especially for someone like Blake. 

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mark my words Blazerverse. If all we get for raymond felton is steve blake im going to scream

— Bobby Braccia (@gnarmageddon) March 5, 2012"

Final Take: Ultimately, I agree with the Blazers' fan there. I am not crazy about Felton as a player, but the Blazers should be looking for a lot more than Steve Blake. 

If Blake is the best they can get, Portland is better off sticking it out with Felton. 

As for the Lakers, the PER difference is negligible, but this is a good move to make. Felton has a lot more potential than Blake, as there's actual proof that he is capable of strong seasons.

Blake is older than Felton, and has never been anything more than a role player throughout his career.

Even if bringing in Felton is something of a gamble, if giving up Blake is the only risk, then Los Angeles has every reason to pull the trigger on this move.  

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