NBA Free Agency rumors: Thunder to sign Raymond Felton

The Oklahoma City Thunder have found their backup point guard via NBA Free Agency, signing Raymond Felton to a one-year contract.

The Oklahoma City Thunder’s biggest need probably wasn’t even in their starting five. It was their backup to Russell Westbrook. The NBA’s Most Valuable Player had the highest usage rate of any player, while not playing the highest minutes per game. When Westbrook went to the bench last year, the Thunder couldn’t turn to anyone reliable to run the offense.

Heading into 2017-18, Billy Donovan and OKC only had Semaj Christon as the other point guard on this roster. He’s a 24-year old without much playing experience, that’ll be counted on in key minutes. General manager Sam Presti had to bring in a veteran to give Westbrook a breather and he did just that today.

Per ESPN’s Chris Haynes, Oklahoma City will sign Raymond Felton to a one-year deal to become Westbrook’s new backup.

Oklahoma City is getting a 33-year-old point guard that played with the Los Angeles Clippers this past season. It will be his 13th season in the NBA with his seventh different team. This past season, Felton was the backup to Chris Paul. He averaged 6.7 points and 2.4 assists per game on 43 percent shooting from the field. He averaged 21.3 minutes per game and can certainly do the same for the Thunder.

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Presti and the front office in Oklahoma City has been looking for someone reliable to backup Westbrook for a while now. They may have found their guy in the short term with Felton. Having played for meaningful contenders, like the Clippers, Mavericks and Knicks — in their better days — Felton brings playoff experience to OKC.

With Westbrook and Paul George to take care of the ball-handling duties in the first unit, Felton should be able to do the same with the second unit. Presti continues to have a great summer, adding pieces around his superstars.