Portland Trail Blazers: Is Raymond Felton the Answer at Point Guard?

It's been a few weeks now since the culmination of the 2011 NBA Draft, and everyone has had some time to digest all the trades and picks that were made in connection with that event.  As I thought about it for a little while today, I realized that with the onset of the lockout now almost a month behind us, I really haven't taken the time to mull over all the deals that went down.

One of the most important deals was the trade of Raymond Felton, formerly of the Denver Nuggets, to the Portland Trail Blazers in exchange for Andre Miller; a few other players also moved around, but Felton and Miller are the two most important pieces to the puzzle.  They're the ones I will focus on here.

It seems that ever since Andre Miller joined the organization, he was viewed as merely a stopgap, or a transition piece, to the next big free agent point guard signing.  His name was rarely left out of continual rumor cycles that usually run all year long (even during the lockout, to an extent).

Was this fair to him?  Probably not.  This article goes into detail about why it wasn't necessary to trade him.  But now that's not important.  The trade is done, and at least he got to go back to Denver. 

Now for the next question we need to address: is Raymond Felton, the player the Blazers gave up Miller for, going to fill the role of point guard of the future?

First, we'll look at some of the positive things that Felton brings to the table.

Felton is only 27, which doesn't make him a spring chicken by any means, but it does mean that he's still right in his prime and could potentially be playing at that level for another four or five seasons.  In addition, he's extremely durable, as was Miller, having only missed 18 games over his six-year career.

His averages as a starter with the New York Knicks last season compare favorably to those of Miller, with much of the differences being accounted for by the fast pace that Felton played at in New York. His numbers dropped off pretty dramatically when he went to the Nuggets and played as Ty Lawson's backup for the remainder of the season.

Miller is overall a better shooter than Felton, but Felton has a lot more range and will be able to stretch opposing defenses much more easily than Miller could with his lack of three-point shooting.  This skill should open up the floor much more for LaMarcus Aldridge and, if he returns, for Greg Oden as well.  In this way the Blazers will be able to have four or five players who can shoot on the floor at all times.

Taking that last fact into account means that Felton may end up being a better fit for the Blazers than Miller was.  Miller's sweet lob passes are definitely going to be missed, but the Blazers are a shooting team, and the more people on the court that can shoot, the better.

But even though they may be better off in the short term, is Felton a player that can lead a team past the first round of the playoffs?  Could he be a piece on a team that ultimately is contending for a conference championship?

Obviously it's hard to say for sure, since he's never been out of the first round either, but he comes across as a player who would come through in big games.  He's definitely not a No. 1 option, but in Portland he would become the third or fourth option on the court most of the time, while still capable of hitting big shots.

One thing to remember is that he shot 46 percent from three after the trade to Denver last season. I don't really expect him to keep shooting at quite that pace, but if he picks his spots and is able to be effective in a smaller role than what he had in New York or Charlotte, he's still going to shoot over 40 percent from distance.

I think Felton will thrive in Portland over the next few seasons, play solid on offense and defense, and give the Blazers what they need from the point guard position.  This will be exciting to watch.