George Karl was convinced it could work. The Denver coach saw a talented, deep combo for his point-guard spot with Ty Lawson and Raymond Felton. The problem for Felton was Karl saw Lawson as the starter.
And so it ultimately didn’t work for the Nuggets, who shipped Felton to Portland, where the current Knicks point guard suffered through a season you would not wish upon your in-laws. Karl has a huge amount of respect for Felton. Respect and a little regret.
“He’s a winner,” Karl gushed about Felton who is back in his second tour with the Knicks who thumped the Nuggets, 112-106, last night at the Garden. “I wish I had known how to handle the Ty-Raymond [situation] because there’s a part of me that thought that was a great way to go.
“But Raymond, when we gave Ty the starting job, it was pretty clear Raymond wanted to be a starter somewhere in the league and he’s good enough to be,” Karl said.
Felton was only in Denver for half a season. But he said afterwards that even had he been there half his life, it would not have jacked up his passion any more.
“I play the same way every night,” said Felton, who had 10 points and six assists.
Felton, who suffered another uneven shooting game (4-of-15) last night after a 9-of-30 effort in Chicago, did not want to leave New York in the first place. As part of the Carmelo Anthony three-team mega swap that seemed to contain one-fourth of all current NBA players, Felton admitted he was “sick” when he was sent to Denver. After half a season, he sat down with Karl and offered how he thought things should go.
“Still being a young guy I couldn’t accept that role at the time, I felt like I was still a starter,” Felton said.
“I can’t fight that,” Karl admitted. “We tried to fight it for a couple months in the summer time. He was pretty insistent. He loved our system — I think he would have liked to be in Denver — but he wanted to be the guy.
“In Portland, it was obvious that it was not a good year for him. I think he’s come back with an anger, with a fire, with a passion. He’s a winner. The kid knows how to win basketball games,” Karl said.
Felton, who played all three games of the Knicks’ 2-1 road trip with a bruised left thumb, has been huge in the team’s early success. Doesn’t surprise Karl.
“He wants to prove to everybody they were wrong on him,” Karl said. “Felton is a good player that wants to prove he’s really a good player.”
Teammate Jason Kidd — a guy Felton admits he has watched as closely as possible over the years — is always in the younger point guard’s ear, dispensing advice. Like after Felton’s rough shooting game against the Bulls, Kidd told him to keep his game in place.
“When I talked to Ray last night I said, ‘Look … they didn’t go in [Saturday], but you’ve got to come back and set the table for us again,” Kidd said.
Kidd handled much of the point in the final quarter — Felton returned for the final 2:24. He spoke of the team success, and marveled at watching Kidd.
“I’ve been watching him for years, learning from him, taking things from his game. It’s amazing to see him at this age that he’s still able to do the things he did when he first came in the league,” Felton said. “He is by far a Hall of Famer, one of the best point guards to play this game. To get a chance to watch him, it’s great.”