Per the Charlotte Observer…

The Charlotte Bobcats and Raymond Felton’s agent both confirmed this morning that Felton has signed the one-year, $5.5 million qualifying offer for this season, which will make him an unrestricted free agent next summer.

This amounts to an acknowledgement that the team and Felton couldn’t work out a long-term deal. Agent Kevin Bradbury said Felton isn’t upset by that and wants to remain in Charlotte.

The solid play of D.J. Augustin has made Felton expendable in Charlotte. Felton averaged 14.2 points and 6.7 assists last year, but shot less than 41% from the field and less than 29% from long range.

When restricted free agents are unable to work out a long-term deal, it’s a sign that they will be moving to a different zip code within a year. We’ll see if that holds true for Felton.

Update 6/30: Be sure to check out our 2009 NBA Free Agency Preview.

Sports2Debate put together an interesting piece outlining where they think players from the free agent class of 2009 will land.

Here are a few of the bigger names:

Jason Kidd – UR
Sacrifices pay to play with Lakers in 2009/2010. Signs a Mid-Level Exception.

Ben Gordon – UR
Utah Jazz sign Gordon. Utah is in need of a shooting guard more than any team. He will take pressure off Brewer and allow him to come of the bench.

Allen Iverson – UR
Signs with Dallas at the Veteran Minimum. They are the only team willing to take a risk, giving A.I. major playing time. The contract will not last more than 2-3 years.

Andre Miller – UR
Signs with the Portland Trailblazers and will make a major impact in the 2010 playoffs.

Shawn Marion – UR
Chicago is likely to move some players to open up some cap room for this offseason and Marion would be a great fit.

Carlos Boozer – UR (player option)
Does not utilize player option. He will, however, be in the pool heading into the 2010/2011 season.

A few random thoughts about the list:

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