NBA Free Agency 2012: Welcome to the New York Knicks, Raymond Felton...Again

After being dealt in a blockbuster trade for Carmelo Anthony in February 2011, Raymond Felton is coming back to the New York Knicks via a sign-and-trade with the Portland Trailblazers. 

Frank Isola of the Daily News reported that the Knicks will get the veteran point guard—not named Steve Nash— they've coveted for Jared Jeffries and Dan Gadzuric. 

It was no secret that Felton wanted to return to play in Madison Square Garden. Marc Berman of the New York Post reported that Felton's agent stated, "He loved playing in New York. Our choice was to never have left New York. There were no hard feelings." This was a good sign for New York because Felton had amazing chemistry with Amar'e Stoudemire who also hasn't been the same since the Carmelo trade.

During his 54 games with New York, Felton averaged 17.1 PPG with 9.0 APG. This was coming at a time when Stoudemire averaged 25.3 PPG and 8.2 RPG. If the Knicks can get this kind of production from the former duo they'll be in great shape, especially with a pure scorer in Carmelo Anthony.

While I expect Felton to be better than he was last year, I'm not sure it would be fair to expect him to put up the same numbers as his last stint in NY. Either way—bench or starter—this was New York's best gamble. 

Raymond Felton's biggest task in returning to Madison Square Garden will be deciding how to utilize both his scorers—Stat and Melo—when on the floor with them. There have only been a handful of games where both Amar'e and Carmelo played a solid game together. 

Felton is very accurate with his passes, and when need be he can score on his own. In the past, we've seen Felton make the right play and lead NY to victory, but can he return to playing like the above average point guard that New York needs? If so, you can expect the Knicks to be back in the playoff picture.

Welcome back Raymond Felton.

Let's go Knicks!