Raymond Felton plans on making Knicks fans forget all about Linsanity.
Moments after Jeremy Lin was being introduced by the Rockets in Houston, Felton was in Las Vegas talking with the MSG Network during a Knicks Summer League game.
“I am a competitor, I am a point guard just like he is, so do I think I am better? Of course, I am going to say that,” Felton said. “I think I am better than any point guard. That’s the way I am supposed to think. But at the same time it’s nothing personal between me and Jeremy. But people are going to make it about that. I am fine with that.”
Felton, who was traded from the Knicks to the Nuggets in the Carmelo Anthony trade, is expected to be the team’s starting point guard after coming over from Portland in a sign-and-trade. The 28-year-old seemed to be out of the Knicks plans after they acquired Jason Kidd in another sign-and-trade, but Felton said he was always in the mix to return even if the team matched Lin’s offer sheet from the Rockets. Something they ultimately decided not to do.
“If we would have spoken about that part of it, matching Jeremy, then obviously I would have thought about it more, but at the same time I think I still would have came,” Felton said. “Cause this is where I wanted to be, where I wanted to play and on top of that I have confidence in my game and I’ll leave that at that.”
And Felton played with that confidence in his 54 games in New York, averaging 17 points and nine assists under Mike D’Antoni, before being shipped to Denver. Those numbers are similar to the ones Lin put up in his 35 games with the Knicks when he became an instant phenomenon. In his introductory press conference with the Rockets, Lin said he had no hard feelings toward Anthony or J.R. Smith, who both questioned the money the Rockets were willing to pay Lin. Anthony called the contract “ridiculous” and Smith said it would cause jealousy within the locker room.
“I love Carmelo and J.R. and I never had any issues with them. I just know my relationship with them and they’ve been very supportive. They were great teammates last year, and that’s kind of it,” Lin said.
Felton did not want to join the chorus of those begrudging Lin’s three-year, $25.1 million deal with Houston.
“My hat’s off to Jeremy. I like to see a guy that comes from being down and working his way all the way up. I thought what he did was incredible, what he did was one of the best I’ve seen in basketball in a long time,” Felton told MSG’s Mike Breen and Walt “Clyde” Frazier.
“And I wish him the best of luck. And I am not here to get into — he was getting way too much money, if you can get the money go get it. So, I am not going to be the one that says that.”
Felton struggled last year with the Blazers during the strike-shortened season and has come under harsh criticism for the fact that he played out of shape. It’s not something that Felton denies, but at the same time he is determined to prove his naysayers wrong.
“I wasn’t at the weight I [would] normally be in. I am not making no excuses, it was a lockout, I understand that. I am the first one to say, I wasn’t in shape,” Felton said. .. . “I am hearing from everybody, he wasn’t in shape last year. I played in the league seven years, about to be eight, came in out of shape one year and that’s all everybody wants to talk about. They don’t talk about what you did good. They talk about when you do something bad. I look forward to this year and shutting up everybody’s mouth.”
Felton said he was “pretty upset” at the situation when he was dealt to the Nuggets, but is thrilled to be returning to the Knicks. After Anthony was the reason he had to leave New York, the two will now be teammates in the Garden.
“(This team) is good enough for the Finals. This is a contending team without a doubt,” Felton said. “That’s the way I am supposed to feel, I think a lot of people should feel the same way. The thing I am excited about is I have so many options: ’Melo at one end, J.R. Smith on the other, Amar’e (Stoudemire) on the screen-and-roll or on the elbow, Tyson (Chandler) at the rim. There are so many things you can work with.”