Kay Felder Should Be The Cleveland Cavaliers Backup Point Guard

The Cleveland Cavaliers selected Kay Felder because of his playmaking ability. Now the rookie point guard needs to show he deserves a rotation spot.

Kay Felder has his chance. Mo Williams is either retiring or a candidate to be waived using the stretch provision. As Williams is removed from consideration for the backup point guard position, it’s clear that the only true point guard that remains on the roster is rookie Kay Felder.

Felder, a second-round pick in 2016 NBA Draft, is an Oakland University legend. To hear Greg Kampe, his former coach at Oakland University, speak about him is to hear an incessant appraisal of Felder’s talent, work ethic, and personality.

Felder, a film room junkie who studies the every move of Chris Paul, who is arguably the smartest player in the NBA as a player who improves as the game goes on, shares that trait with his idol. As Felder is exposed to a situation in-game, he remembers it and improves his decision-making in-game as well as on a game-by-game basis.

In Summer League action, rookie Kay Felder averaged 15.3 points, 3.9 assists, 3.4 rebounds, 1.4 steals and 0.9 blocks per game. While being inefficient from behind-the-line, shooting at 22.7 percent, he showed a need to work on his shot selection as he often pulled up for a three and missed.

Felder showed the ability to get to his sweet spots consistently and, though he makes mistakes when being keyed on as a playmaker, when opposing coaches key in on him as he plays with the regular season roster the floor with open up for the Cleveland Cavaliers Big Three and their shooters.

Shooting guards Jordan McRae and Iman Shumpert can play point guard in spot, but neither has the game suited to man the point guard positions for long periods of time. McRae is a head-hunting scorer and doesn’t look for his teammates on a consistent basis. Shumpert lacks the ball-handling and cerebral point guard mentality to bring the ball down the court more than a few times per game.

Who was a proponent of Cleveland's pick of Kay Felder? LeBron James.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 24, 2016

For a player like Felder, who has made fans out of teammates LeBron James and Mo Williams, and coach Tyronn Lue, taking the training wheels off early would be in the Cavaliers’ best interests.

"“He’s been one of the more impressive point guards in this summer league,” Cavs coach Tyronn Lue said, according to Ohio.com. “Down the road, he’ll be a great player.”"

Felder has the playmaking ability as a scorer and distributor to be the clear-cut, backup point guard, if the Cleveland Cavaliers give him a shot.

There’s a tendency for coaching staffs and front offices to be timid and not let young players to play against experienced veterans early on in their careers. However, Felder has shown an advanced offensive game and the ability to distribute the ball at a NBA level.

With an impressive array of crossover dribbles, including an inside-out dribble that he’s mastered and various sidesteps and counter-dribbles, Felder usually gets where he wants to on the court. Using the pick-and-roll, he often gets his big men involved even when he can get his own shot off from the elbow or on the drive.

His explosiveness as an athlete gives him an advantage when attacking on offense and it separates him from other point guards who starred in college but have failed to make a sustained impact thus far in the NBA like Jimmer Fredette and Kendall Marshall.

More from Cavs Analysis

As a point guard, his athleticism is comparable to fellow NBA point guard Russell Westbrook. Though not quite on the level of a point guard such as John Wall, Felder’s explosive first step and speed with the ball in his hands allows him to be the player presenting the mismatch in the positional matchup.

Two skills that will help him succeed are efficient scoring and the vision to complete the scoring play. Both of these skills require knowledge of where to pick his spots on the court.

Felder intuitively gets to the right areas to make plays, advancing towards the high elbow or all the way to the rim to score or dish the ball using the pick-and-roll. With impressive vision, timing, and strength Felder gets the ball to his teammates in scoring position on a consistent basis. With an array of unorthodox scoring moves, such as a floater he launches from the free-throw line, and nice touch and form on his jump shots, Felder gets buckets in a variety of ways.

Felder will become more focused and aware defensively as he gains playing experience. He has shown the ability to be an above-average defender on-and-off the ball. This is, in part, due to his athleticism, as he has the leaping ability to be a weakside shot-blocker as he makes rotations and the lateral agility and burst to jump the passing lanes before he makes a play in transition.

Felder’s productivity is also due to his defensive form in that he plays with a low center of gravity. When Felder is focused, this allows him to mirror the offensive player’s movements with precision and timing.

Felder’s issues on this end regard his physical conditioning, as he is susceptible to taking plays off like many offensive superstars, and his ability to fight through screens. Felder is a stocky player that stands at 5-foot-9, 177 pounds. His 6-foot-2 wingspan allows him to play bigger than his listed height defensively, however Felder will have to be better at anticipating screens in order to have the most success fighting over them. Once he learns the games of his fellow NBA players, their styles and hot spots, as well the offensive schemes of the opposing coaching staffs, he’ll be better in this area.

More from King James Gospel

The overall theme of the Kay Felder experience is that he’ll be better off the quicker he gets on the court because his in-game awareness, like all rookies, will grow with playing time. Even though he will have defensive lapses and make the occasional rookie mistake, Felder is advanced as an offensive player and will be able to score and distribute at a high level. His athleticism will compensate for his lack of awareness early on and, as Felder learns how to play in the NBA, his athleticism will let him have an above average impact on the game on both sides of the ball.

Felder has the playmaking ability to be the sixth man on the Cavs and battle for that position with McRae. For Felder, coming off the bench with longtime NBA veterans such as LeBron James, Richard Jefferson, Mike Dunleavy Jr., Channing Frye and Chris Andersen is an ideal situation for a young guard as they’ll often already be in position offensively when Felder wants to set up a play. Defensively, they’ll also be prime candidates to compensate for Felder and any possible rookie mistakes.

Overall, the Cleveland Cavaliers are a veteran-laden squad with a talented trio of superstars. While they won’t rely on Felder to be the difference-maker on a nightly basis, they will allow him to grow as a player while minimizing his mistakes and maximizing his potential to be productive.

Felder should be the Cleveland Cavaliers backup point guard because he’s the best possible option and he has serious potential as a player. That type of promising play can only enhance the Cleveland Cavaliers chance at defending their NBA title and winning back-to-back championships.

Do you buy into what Kay Felder can contribute as a rookie? Let us know in the comments section or by following and tweeting us @KJG_NBA.