Raymond Felton turned down contract offer from Cavs, who may be better off for it

Raymond Felton reportedly turned down a contract offer from the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Cavs are actually better off for it.

According to cleveland.com’s Terry Pluto, veteran point guard Raymond Felton turned down a contract offer from the Cleveland Cavaliers at the start of free agency.

That the Cavs would be interested in Felton isn’t altogether unexpected. In January, Felton was reported (by ESPN’s Brian Windhorst) to be one of the players that LeBron James was frustrated that the Cavs didn’t reach out to (along with current free agent Michael Beasley).

"“In addition to his displeasure about spending, James has hinted he’s upset at some of the way the back end of the roster was assembled. On Monday, James mentioned that veterans like Raymond Felton and Michael Beasley signed contracts for the league minimum with other teams in the offseason. He also referenced veteran Dahntay Jones, who was on the Cleveland roster for the playoffs and was released in the preseason.”"

However, it’s interesting that Felton turned down the contract offer. Not because the Cavs were once again losing out on a player that could have helped the team, as Pluto reports that Felton was looking for a bigger contract and by the time he signed a one-year deal with the Oklahoma City Thunder, for the veteran’s minimum, the Cleveland Cavaliers had already agreed to a one-year deal with the fiery veteran point guard Jose Calderon.

Truth be told, because Felton’s not the shooter that Calderon is from three-point range, the Cavs may be better off for him declining him the offer.

All things considered, Calderon’s last season, in which he shot 31.3 percent from three, was an aberration. Calderon hadn’t shot below 36.0 percent on threes since his second season in the NBA or below 40.0 percent on corner threes since 2011. Felton, on the other hand, shot 31.9 percent from three last season and it was his best since the 2012-2013 season. In the past five seasons, he’s had three shooting below 30.0 percent from the corner. That’s including the last season, in which he shot 59.3 percent from three last year.

Where Calderon has a career shooting percentage of 40.9 percent on three-point attempts and 43.2 percent on corner threes, Felton has a career shooting percentage of 32.9 percent on three-point attempts and 36.5 percent on corner threes.

Simply put, Calderon is the more reliable three-point shooter. That’s a fact that translates to differences in their career shooting in the midrange area (41.2 percent from 10-16 feet for Calderon, 36.3 percent for Felton; 45.7 percent from 16-24 feet for Calderon, 39.2 percent for Felton) and their career shooting from the free-throw line (78.8 percent for Felton, 87.5 percent for Calderon).

For the Cleveland Cavaliers, the differences in Calderon’s and Felton’s efficiency can’t be ignored. Against the best defenses and the best rebounding teams in the NBA, efficiency is invaluable.

When looking at the second unit, if James or Kyrie Irving is resting on the bench they’ll need Calderon to be both efficient and effective as a scorer. On pick-and-rolls, while Felton may be more of a threat to probe the paint, Calderon’s ability to make shots from the midrange decreases the importance he gets all the way to the rim since he can both hit the open jumper and make the play for others.

Even in a down season, Calderon made 53.8 percent of his shots as a pick-and-roll ball-handler. Felton hit 48.1 percent of his shots. A solid number but defenses are more likely to play under screens with Felton, which would more or less force him to make the open jumper and as previously mentioned, his career numbers wouldn’t suggest he’s incredibly efficient as a jump shooter.

Calderon, however, is a player that would force players to come over the screen and from there he’d be able to probe the paint as much as possible and be relied upon hit the jumper from the midrange if he couldn’t get there. He could easily pass to the center on a roll or pick-and-pop or even make a skip pass to a shooter because of the gravity he can create as a shooter.

It’s not just that Calderon is the better shooter, it’s that he’s thought of as a great three-point shooter. Psychologically, that affects players as they’ll feel they can’t make the mental gaffe of letting him shoot.

That’s why a player like J.R. Smith could draw more attention than Iman Shumpert behind the arc though the latter had a solid performance from three-point range last season. Shumpert shot 36.0 percent from three for the season and 40.3 percent from three heading into the All-Star Break. Smith shot 35.1 percent last year and 36.2 percent from three heading into All-Star Break.

However, Smith is thought of as a three-point threat because of his career numbers (37.4 percent from three). Shumpert’s role involves shooting the open three, but he’s not considered a true three-point shooter because of his career numbers (34.0 percent from three).

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If Calderon is playing beside one of or both James and Irving, he’ll need to be able to play off-the-ball and space the floor as a catch-and-shoot option in addition to facilitating.

Last year, Felton made 35.7 percent of his catch-and-shoot threes and Calderon made 35.3 percent of his catch-and-shoot threes.

However, in the previous season, Felton only made 31.6 percent of his catch-and-shoot threes. Calderon made 42.8 percent of his catch-and-shoot threes in the 2015-2016.

In the 2014-2016 season Felton, made 35.3 percent of his catch-and-shoot threes. Calderon made 38.1 percent of his attempts.

In the first season these stats became available (2013-2014), Felton made 35.9 percent of his catch-and-shoot threes, Calderon made 45.9 of his catch-and-shoot attempts.

Once again, Calderon proves to be a more reliable three-point shooter over the course of his career.

This article isn’t to knock Felton, who is also a low-turnover point guard and a solid facilitator.

However, when it comes to making a shot that matters, Calderon is the better option.

If the 2017 NBA Finals taught Cavs anything, it’s that every shot counts.

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*Unless otherwise referenced, stats gathered from www.basketball-reference.com