The Knicks acquiring Raymond Felton could signal the departure of Jeremy Lin.

But is that the right move? ESPN Stats & Info says no, utilizing Synergy Sports technology.

Offensively, Lin is more efficient in pick-and-rolls, isolation and jumpers off the dribble, and he's more efficient on defense.

Here's a quick breakdown:

Pick-and-rolls -- Lin and Felton both relied on pick-and-rolls more than any other play type last season. It’s one of Lin’s least-efficient play types, but Felton was worse than Lin. Only three of the 41 players with at least 200 pick-and-roll ball-handler plays scored fewer points per play than Felton, who went to the free throw line nearly three times less often than Lin.

Isolations -- Isolation plays are where Lin excels. He scored the third-most points per play of the 91 players with at least 75 isolation plays last season. Felton ranked 68th. Felton turned the ball over on isolation plays more than twice as often as Lin, who turned it over on 6.5 percent of those plays, the 10th-lowest turnover rate among the 91 players.

Jumpers off the dribble -- Lin is better with the ball in his hands. Last season, he shot 32.7 percent on catch-and-shoot jumpers, including 35.9 percent on unguarded catch-and-shoot jumpers. But he shot 47.9 percent on jumpers off the dribble. Of the 102 players who attempted at least 90 jumpers off the dribble, only Stephen Curry and Steve Nash shot a higher field-goal percentage than Lin (47.9). Felton ranked 85th of those 102 players, shooting just 32.7 percent.

Transition -- Lin and Felton, who scored the exact same amount of transition points per play, were both very inefficient on transition plays last season. Jamal Crawford and Al-Farouq Aminu were the only two players with fewer points per transition play of the 130 players with at least 50 plays.

Passing -- As far as passing on pick-and-roll plays, Lin and Felton are almost identical. Felton passed the ball on 54 percent of his pick-and-roll plays, while Lin passed it 53 percent of the time. And both players’ teammates had nearly the same field-goal percentage and points per play on those passes. Felton passed it to the roll men more often, while Lin hit the cutters and spot-up shooters more often.

Felton passed the ball more often (29 percent) on isolation plays than Lin (17 percent). Lin was better at passing to cutters on isolation plays, resulting in a higher field-goal percentage and more points per play by his teammates on those passes. But with Lin’s high efficiency on isolation plays, it may not be such a bad thing that he only passes the ball on 17 percent of his isolation plays.

[b]Defense -- Lin held opponents to fewer points per play and a lower field-goal percentage (37.8) last season than Felton (41.6). Of the 235 players to defend at least 300 plays, Lin allowed the 78th-fewest points per play, while Felton ranked 133rd. [b]

And you know what, we all saw how Felton played 2 seasons ago and we all saw how Lin played, so I trust our own opinions more than espns. How do you think their games compare?

smackeddog wrote:If we signed Lin to that contract the media would have ridiculed us and said Lin is average at best, it's only been 25 games etc, but now it looks like we're not signing him to the same contract they're going to ridicule us for losing him and will start making out he is every bit as goods advertised.

And you know what, we all saw how Felton played 2 seasons ago and we all saw how Lin played, so I trust our own opinions more than espns. How do you think their games compare?

This isn't an opinion piece but is all stat based but I'll go ahead and bite anyway. Felton's potential best is Lin's potential worst. The only thing that Felton might be better than Lin at is defense and even then the difference is negligible.

Also Gallo, Wilson Chandler both an advantage either with size or quickness, could stretch the defense out, moved the ball together/hitting the open man, TD/Billups were a good shooters that year to space the floor, and Shawne Williams was another good role player to space the floor.

We have different players and a different system, Amare loss some of his athleticism and playing at PF is not a mismatch vs playing the center.
With Chandler/Camby playing center, Amare has trouble attacking the rim with the help defense, and without 4 shooters to space the floor.

Felton is still a solid defender and looks to penetrate but with Camby/Chandler at Center and Amare as the PF, he has less room to operate.
We need someone that can penetrate to break the defenses down with Lin, as KID can play SG/SF like he does in Dallas.
2-3 players that can handle the ball, facilitate, penetrate, and hit a wide open shot are needed in today's game.
While having lineups that allow has to have 4 shooters to spread the floor at the same time, it opens up the lane.

Portland has many injuries last year, when they put 4 shooters on the floor, Felton played much better, and he played poorly when they had 3 shooters.
While Felton is strong and can play PG/SG without being much of defensive liability, it make senses to acquire Felton for his price, and what we actually gave up to acquire him, NOTHING.

A more interesting breakdown would be Feltons caloric intake vs. Lin's.

earthmansurfer wrote:I take Lin over Felton period. Younger, more promising, better work ethic, better character, better eating habits, speaking of that last one -

A more interesting breakdown would be Feltons caloric intake vs. Lin's.

A fat joke? Wow! So original! You are cool!