The Cleveland Cavaliers thought they had a steal with Kay Felder, but the undersized point guard may be on his last shot this upcoming season.
With the 54th pick in the 2016 NBA Draft, the Cleveland Cavaliers selected the undersized Kay Felder, a standout point guard from Oakland University. Felder is only 5-foot-9 and hopes to be the next Isaiah Thomas, an undersized superstar in the NBA. Thomas, assuming the Kyrie Irving trade goes through, will be teammates with Felder and should help him grow as a player.
Felder’s rookie season was underwhelming and involved many trips down to the Canton Charge, the Cavaliers G-League affiliate. In the 42 games that Felder saw action, he managed to score only 4.0 points per game and was given less than 10 minutes per game. His player efficiency was just 11.4 which is well below the 15 league average. Thomas got off to a much better start in the NBA, averaging 11.5 points per game his rookie season.
All that to say, Kay Felder’s rookie season was not how the Cavaliers had hoped nor did it show much promise for his future. Per 100 possession, the offensive-minded point guard would commit 3.9 turnovers and had just a 95 offensive rating. The offensive rating is concerning since Felder was drafted to be as volume of a scoring threat as he was Oakland. The Cavaliers average offensive rating was 110.9. Being only 5’9″, Felder certainly won’t be known for his defense in the league, so his offensive performances must start to stand out.
Felder did not have a great Las Vegas Summer League performance either, but he did have a solid game in the Cavaliers’ playoff game against Lonzo Ball and the Lakers.
Lonzo’s Lakers eventually went on to win the Summer League Championship, which they hope is the start of actual NBA Championships.
The Cavaliers’ Summer League team had several good talents, but Kay Felder was easily the leader and most important threat when on the court. Felder is still under contract until after the 2018-2019 season, but it is time for him to start to perform at the highest level if he wants to stick around the NBA.
Felder might be his last straw. This season, the Cavaliers will be looking for another elusive scoring threat especially if current backup point guard Derrick Rose goes down with one of his several nagging injuries.
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The opportunities will be there, and Kay must seize them immediately.