According to USA Today Sports’ Sam Amick, the Toront Raptors have signed former Cleveland Cavaliers reserve guard Kay Felder to a one-year contract.
Last season Felder played for the Chicago Bulls and Detroit Pistons. He appeared in 14 games for the Bulls, posting numbers of 3.9 points, 1.0 rebounds, and 1.4 assists in 9.6 minutes per contest before being waived in December. He signed a two-way deal with the Pistons, appearing in only two games and and spending most of his time with the team’s G-League affiliate, the Grand Rapids Drive.
Felder is more known for his time with the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2016-17 season. That year he averaged 4.0 points, 1.0 rebounds, 1.4 assists per contest in his 42 appearances.
The deal that Felder has signed is what’s known as a Exhibit 10 deal.
Blake Murphy of the Raptors Republic details exactly how this contract works:
“(…an Exhibit 10 contract is a one-year, non-guaranteed NBA contract that will bring the player into training camp to compete for a roster spot. Failing that, the team has the option to convert the contract to a two-way contract or, if the player is cut, clears waivers, and agrees to join Raptors 905 as an Affiliate Player, he’ll receive a $50,000 bonus to supplement the $35,000 G League salary. The immediate focus will be making the roster out of camp, but there are options available to continue Felder’s development within the organization if he doesn’t.)”
Felder has a daunting task, attempting to make this roster. He is competing for the final roster spot for a club that already has three guards in front of him.
More from Mr. Murphy on that note:
Felder will ostensibly compete for the 14th and 15th roster spot, but it’s not immediately clear what his path to the roster might be unless the Raptors are going to go very heavy on guards. They already have Kyle Lowry, Delon Wright, and Fred VanVleet under guaranteed contracts and entrenched in the rotation, Jordan Loyd on a two-way contract, and Lorenzo Brown guaranteed for $800,000. With the team well into the luxury tax already – and therefore somewhat unlikely to carry a 15th player all season – Felder making the roster would seem superfluous on the surface.
“At the same time, the guarantee could be small, allowing Felder to stick on the roster a few days into the season as additional insurance at a position that the team has always but immense value on (and that new head coach Nick Nurse figures to value highly with dual-point guard lineups). Felder could also be tabbed for Raptors 905 duty, although he would be ineligible to play for the Raptors’ G League affiliate if the contract guarantee is greater than $50,000. (If this is an Exhibit 10 deal with a $50,000 guarantee, Felder could later be converted to a two-way deal, although using both of those on guards would seem somewhat redundant.)”
The odds are definitely not in favor of Felder, but he has already defied odds to get to this point so it is certainly not out of the realm of possibility.
