Kay Felder sensed an opportunity. The Summer League was a chance for him to prove that he belonged on an NBA roster. Thursday night presented an even greater treat - a national audience watching due to the presence of Los Angeles Lakers rookie Lonzo Ball playing for the opposing team. The potential Cleveland Cavaliers point guard appeared to use that as motivation as he played one of the better games of his professional career.
Oh, those Summer (League) nights
Felder was far and away the leading scorer of the Summer League tournament game on Thursday night.
He showed flash while handling the ball on his way to 25 points. He also dropped four assists, four steals, and three rebounds in the game. He knew how to get to the bucket and exhibited the vision needed to command the Cavaliers on the court. It did come in a losing effort, though.
But for all of the good, there was plenty of bad too. Felder spent a lot of time chucking ill-advised jump shots, missing fifteen shots (including all four of his three-point attempts). He also played suspect defense, sporting a minus-14 on the night. Some believe that his offensive exploits were only possible because the Cavaliers were playing a disinterested Lakers defense. Others on Twitter seemed to remark that his Summer League performance may have slipped from a season ago.
Kay Felder looked better in last year's Summer League than this year.
— Matt Medley (@MedleyHoops) July 14, 2017
That's kind of a concern to me.
Felder fights for a roster spot
Overall, the Summer League matters very little in the long run. It's an opportunity for young players to either get their feet wet or prove that they deserve at least another look from NBA general managers.
Nobody cares who wins or loses the games, though (luckily for Cleveland). Additionally, each performance must be taken with a grain of salt as well, as players aren't competing at full steam and players like Felder are going up against some marginal NBA talent.
Felder needed to show something during Thursday night's game, though.
He struggled during the other Summer League games, so whether Thursday is viewed as a major improvement or a minor improvement, it's still something. Felder will be on the roster when the season starts, but he has designs on being the team's primary backup point guard behind Kyrie Irving, even though the Cavaliers signed Jose Calderon to fill that role. There's still plenty of time to prove that the spot is his, but the rest of his opportunities will come off the court or in practice, rather than in live competitive action.
