Raymond Felton Dodged A Bullet

After all the hoopla about Felton facing serious time and the case that would end of his Knicks career, Felton appeared in front of a judge in New York City on Tuesday afternoon and was charged with one count of criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree and one count of criminal possession of a firearm. 

Both charges are Class D and Class E felonies for unlawful possession of a firearm ad carry a minimum of one-year, but are much less serious than the expected Class C felony, Felton would be slapped with, which carry a minimum of three and a half years in the slammer. With Class D and E felonies, judges have more discretion to impose a lesser sentence, which bodes well for Felton's future. Felton's case has been adjourned until June 2 and because the alleged violation of the law didn't take place in an NBA arena, Commissioner Silver doesn't have much authority to suspend him without a conviction

Felton's Knicks contract is also safe as well. There were concerns that the Knicks would attempt use the good citizenship clause of the Uniform Player Contract and terminate Felton's contract which is due to pay out $7.7 million over the next two years. However, the less serious charges basically ends any chances of that happening.

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