Raymond Felton faced an uncertain Knicks future entering last week’s trade deadline and now faces one again post-deadline in the wake of his gun-charge arrest.
Felton didn’t speak to reporters Tuesday night after his arraignment, so there’s a lot of unanswered questions regarding the man who replaced Jeremy Lin.
Can the Knicks void his contract?
If the Knicks made a move to suspend Felton — and there’s absolutely no indication they are thinking along those lines — acting union director Ron Klempner would be all over it. The union is steadfast in its position that “charges are charges’’ and no contract has been violated until a plea or conviction is reached. However, once a resolution is reached, the NBA does have the right to discipline Felton and go as far as voiding his contract. Felton has one year left on his pact at roughly $3.4 million. Felton’s is an expiring contract and undoubtedly the Knicks will look to deal him because he has been a defensive liability. All indications are the Knicks are supporting him through this.
Will he play against the Heat on Thursday?
Felton expects to practice with the club Wednesday in its preparation for Thursday’s battle in Miami. The Knicks had a planned day off Tuesday so Felton didn’t miss a thing as he went through his legal woes. Felton should start at point guard, with point guard Pablo Prigioni also in the lineup, though that’s not set in stone. Woodson has jiggered the lineup, going big with Amar’e Stoudemire at power forward in the starting lineup against the Mavericks on Monday. Woodson could decide to use one point guard and get J.R. Smith back in the lineup for Prigioni or Felton.
Is the NBA likely to suspend Felton?
The NBA will wait for the courts to do its thing. There’s a lot of precedent for the NBA to sit back and wait for a case to play out — with Jason Kidd’s DWI one recent example. Kidd wasn’t suspended until a plea agreement was reached. The NBA won’t touch Felton until there’s a resolution, one source indicated. The gun charge is not related to the collective bargaining agreement’s Gilbert Arenas clause that prohibits players from carrying a firearm into an NBA facility or on an NBA-related business trip.
Will Felton serve prison time?
That Felton was not charged with allegedly threatening his wife with the unlicensed gun, as was originally anticipated, greatly decreases his chance of serving a minimum two-year prison term, according to criminal lawyer David Touger, who specializes in gun law. The D-felony Felton was charged with stems from being in possession of an extended gun clip that carries more than seven bullets. Such a device has carried a jail term only since the Newtown school shooting. If Felton proves he bought the clip before the Newtown tragedy, Touger said, the charge will be reduced to a misdemeanor and he will likely receive probation. Also for the charges to stick, his estranged wife has to testify the clip is his and she can decline under the husband-wife privilege. Had Felton carried his gun outside his home, he would have faced a minimum two-year prison term, similar to Plaxico Burress’s gunplay in a Manhattan nightclub.