In 2008, Carlo Recalcati, head coach of the Italian national team, said he hoped that Belinelli would get traded from the Golden State Warriors to the Raptors, so he can play alongside Andrea Bargnani. Recalcati believed that Belinelli would thrive playing alongside his national teammate.
He has been on Toronto’s radar for almost a year. Colangelo almost pulled off a trade to obtain him in the middle of last season but was rebuffed by Golden State management. The 6-foot-5 Italian native is comfortable playing either backcourt position, which fits with Colangelo’s desire to load the roster with players capable of playing more than one position.
His acquisition further throws into question Toronto’s ability – or desire – to re-sign restricted free agent Carlos Delfino.
Belinelli was the No. 18 pick in the 2007 draft but rarely saw the floor in Golden State, which has a surplus of wing players. But he is only 23 years old, while George will turn 32 next month. The 6-foot-5 Belinelli is considered a promising shooter and scorer and is a favourite of Raptors general manager Bryan Colangelo, who has been trying to acquire him. Although healthy, Belinelli played in only 42 of the Warriors’ 82 games last season. When he did play, he averaged 21 minutes, 8.9 points, 1.7 rebounds and 2.1 assists.
Belinelli is likely going to get more of a chance to play in Toronto than he got in Golden State under Don Nelson. Belinelli played sparingly as a rookie, then received inconsistent minutes during an injury-plagued 2008-09.
He averaged 13.4 points per game when he got 20 or more minutes, but there were also 15 times when Belinelli took a DNP-CD. Depending on how Toronto’s backcourt shakes out, Belinelli could be in the starting two-guard mix along with Antoine Wright and Jarrett Jack.
The gray eminences in the Warriors front office have just traded him to the Toronto Raptors for three cans of paint and a suppository. Well, for Devean George.
Yes, I know it’s unlikely that George will ever play for the Warriors. And I know the Warriors have more shooting guards than Don Nelson has beers in his fridge.
But this is Marco Belinelli. Someone whose eyes said “I am asleep” and whose shot said “I can do this in my sleep”.
With Anthony Parker now in Cleveland, the 6-6 DeRozan will be given a chance to win the starting shooting guard job in training camp; his main competition is newly signed veteran Jarrett Jack, but at 6-3 and more of a point the team would much rather Jack spells Jose Calderon off the bench. DeRozan had a strong showing in Vegas, averaging 17 points (49% FG) and 4.8 boards per and showing some serious hops. He turns just 20 years old next week and clearly has more long-term potential than short, but should make enough of an impact to sneak onto the Second Team.
Perhaps the Raptors choice of loading up on Europeans is the ying to the yang of their MLSE counterpart the Toronto Maple Leafs. Brian Burke has spent all off season unloading anything with a non North American passport and his Basketball counter part Bryan Colangelo has been doing the direct opposite.
Nonetheless I like this move on the surface for both basketball reasons and non basketball reasons. I’ve been fond of Belinelli’s game and actually thought the Raptors might try to acquire him during a draft day trade in 2007. Hopefully his game will blossom under the guise of the Euro-Raptors style. If anything at least Andrea Bargnani now has an Italian running mate to take the pressure off of him from all the Vito’s in Woodbridge who call in the Fan590 .
My oh my. It was a joke that really wasn’t that funny. To tell you the truth it’s a joke that some Warriors fans feel outraged over this trade. It’s meaningless and it’s not going to effect the 2008-2009 Golden State Warriors season one bit. Folks hate it when I say this, but I doubt Belinelli is even in the league in 2 years. Actually scratch that. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Toronto Craptors "braintrust" inked him to a 5 year $50 million extension a la Andrea Bargnani.
We probably have some Raps fans reading and looking for some 4-1-1 on Belinelli’s tenure with the Warriors. Here’s my 20 cents that I detailed earlier:
One of the most unrecognized aspects of Toronto’s offseason has been the fact that the team has shed two of its best perimeter shooters in Anthony Parker and Jason Kapono this summer. While neither one was exactly a make-’em-when-they’re-needed threat last year, both still demanded attention from defenses and both helped keep the mid-range open for guys like Bosh and Bargnani to operate in.
With both of those players gone, and ostensibly replaced by poor three-point shooters Antoine Wright and DeMar DeRozen, the Raptors were actually looking like a club without an overabundance of long-range bombing. After all, this is a team that still carries the league record for consecutive games with a three-pointer made (859) and has a reputation for stocking their team full of gunners – at times at the expense of guys who will penetrate or draw fouls. Belinelli (along with Turkoglu and Andrea Bargnani) helps keep Toronto’s long-range reputation alive.
My reaction to this is “awesome,” at least until we know more. Even then, I’m pretty sure it’ll be something between that and “good.”
Basically, the Raps trade a guy who was hardly going to play, on the downside of his career, for a 23-year-old who’s shown plenty of promise in the past.
Take a look at that picture above – That’s what Raps fans should (hopefully) get used to seeing. This guy can flat out shoot, and all indications are that he actually wants to use that skill in games (as opposed to Mr. Kapono). He’s also pretty cheap and should be a solid scoring option off the bench. Golden State simply had too many wing players and ball handlers, whereas Toronto certainly has a spot for someone like this.
In today’s NBA economy, especially with Toronto seemingly being the lone bidder for his services, the last thing I wanted to see was a $5 Million deal handed out to Delfino, or any contract that was for over three years. As one of our readers discussed with me over the weekend, we would rather see Toronto pay extra for Carlos provided the club wasn’t handcuffed to yet another long-term deal.
So while I did value Delfino’s return, it was partly based on the lack of other options, and partly dependant on his final contract amount. So if a cheaper alternative presented itself…
In my books that’s exactly what Bryan Colangelo has done here, presented fans with a cheaper, and possibly as productive alternative. Let’s look at some stats.
The 23-year-old guard has, admittedly, had an “average” start to his NBA career. After struggling through his rookie season, Belinelli had a chance to bust out a little bit last year … given the glut of injuries the Warriors were experiencing. He started 23 games for the Bay Area Boys – including an impressive 15-game stretch from mid-December to mid-January where he averaged more than 15 points per game and earned a ton of respect from his teammates.
Speaking about Belinelli back in December 2008, then-teammate Stephen Jackson told the San Francisco Chronicle:
“When (Marco) wasn’t playing, when he said he wanted to be traded and all that stuff, I was like, man, we’re going to lose a good player. He’s a guy that got caught up in a numbers game, and I’ve been through that too. I’m glad he’s taking advantage of his opportunity, because that’s what it’s all about.”
By moving a player that had minimal value to the franchise in George, they were able to obtain a 23-year-old who many predict will have bright future in the NBA. Sure, he only averaged 8.9 points and 2.1 assists per game with the Warriors last season, but Belinelli scored more than 15 points on seven different occasions last season. It’s no coincidence that those scoring outbursts came in games where Don Nelson finally gave the youngster some minutes and freed him from the end of his bench.
As for Toronto, it’s an excellent trade. They basically got a player for nothing, and that player is useful in the present tense and has good potential for the future. Nice get for the Raptors.
Unfortunately, I think Belinelli is a lousy fit in Toronto’s current lineup/roster due to the team’s problems defensively and on the glass, and I think that will limit his immediate impact on the Raptors.
47 Raps
Great Job as usual AltRaps. Something so inspirational about starting the morning with a little ‘Eye of the Tiger’
The rocky video was a nice touch…
im likin the looks of this kid
I am thinking that a guy who can make a shot from behind the backboard during an actual game, might be pretty good. Let’s see who else did that, umm Larry Bird, Dr. J, Michael Jordan, LeBron, etc…..
The video just proves the potential of Marco and the bias against Italian players in the NBA, in the eyes of the American media and Don Nelson.
Not to look a gift-horse in the mouth, but how the hell did Colangelo pull this one off? Is the Warriors GM insane? Or maybe, he’s one of the many in the Bay area with one of those handy-dandy medical marijuana licenses … and he over-indulges a bit (?). I really don’t get it. And … if you think I’m kidding about the very wide spread of those licenses there, you’d be incorrect, sir. San Fran/Oakland is a nice area to visit. For a lot of reasons … of course.
Well, it does give the Warriors about $10mil in expiring contracts, which is a nice nugget when looking to do in-season trades.
Also, Belinelli had a team option for 10/11 and a qualifying offer for the season after. Considering the depth they had at his position, this allows them to no longer need to make a tough decision.
So, they basically moved a player that wasn’t getting minutes for trade fodder and the ability to not have to worry about what to do with a tweener type player at the end of the season.
What? If they don’t do this trade, they keep the option of trading his contract as an expiring, or letting it expire, or optioning him to keep him if they want.
Now they only have the first two options. And George’s contract isn’t as valuable, because he isn’t young with potential and an extendable contract.
Depending on who you listen to, the situation between him and Nellie was somewhere between somewhat bearable to hostile. Who knows what was happening behind closed doors.
The contracts matched, they got some money out of it, and moved someone that could become a malcontent himself or made one out of his coach in return for a solid locker room guy that could help some bruised egos.
You think Belinelli will come back to haunt them? Really? Not likely.
And for any team looking to clear (more) space next summer, George’s contract is just as valuable in the only place that matters: $.
They would have needed to decide by Oct 31st whether or not to pick up the team option on Belinelli. So I guess that means they already decided he wasn’t part of their future, so why not get 1) some money, and 2) roster stability out of it. It’s an obvious vote of confidence for Anthony Morrow.
depends on just how much $$ is going back to GS as well…if BC is sending close to the equiv. of george’s salary for ‘09/’10, then they basically free up $$ immediately. belineli wasn’t going to get much (if any) PT w/ the warriors anyway, so from their perspective, they aren’t giving much up.
ahh. Well, there ya have it. Thanks to you both.
BC is not done yet…. someone needs a PG and he’ll find a home for Roko….plus there is still one roster spot open… Stefano Mancinelli would look good in a Raps jersey… big enough to play the 3 or 4 and athletic… finishes at the rim and is available cause Bologna was relegated….
man enough with the euros…its a nice move for belinelli but they need proven veteran talent to round out the roster. someone who will come in and defend and rebound and not cry about playing time and roles in the offence. no ones going to move overseas and be fine with 1-2 touches per game. especially coming from an offence only FIBA league
Calderon
Derozan
Turkoglu
Bosh
Bargnani
Jack
Belinelli/Douby
Wright
Evans
Nesterovic
O’bryant- 5th big man
Ukic- trade him now
Banks- bench warmer
douby could be waved for a free roster spot….belinelli probably probably does his role a bit better
Why, so another minimum contract player can take his place on the inactive list?
id take a min value project over banks in a second
Yes, it must be so great to take a min value “project” to fill one of the inactive slots, while buying out a contract that actually will be worth something next season.
And note that you initially said Douby, who is already a min value “project”, so replacing him with another min value “project” just for the sake of it is nothing short of silly.
Something (Belinelli at 23) for nothing is always a genius trade, even as (money is nothing and George at 32), was not going to play except in emergency. Another step in the right direction, with BC still walking.
God… I hope someone day Marco will actually be a bargain at 5 year 50 million dollar contract, and I just want to go “these ignorant Americans” and say hah hah, are you winning titles with your 40 year old Georgy. It is no the Toronto “craptors” (very funny name by the way) no longer. Now the suckers are the Golden State Crapiors.
Golden Bench Warmiers?
devean george didn’t want to veto that trade?
this comment is mastercard priceless
Great trade. We traded nothing for potential. But man , does he take alot of tough shots.
Thank you for the great work.
Since last night, I have been thinking about the backup SF for this team and felt that we need someone in that position. However now, I think we should be OK because both DD and Wright are able to play that position. With Belinili and JJ able to play SG, I don’t think there will be much minutes in that position for DD. I also think Douby will be a great as a 3rd Combo guard. So I think we should trade Roko for a draft picks (2nd round) and some cash and use the cash to sign POB as a energy guy for limited minutes off the bench.
I know there are many informed and intelligent Raptors fan here so please tell me what you think.
Nobody will give you both a 2nd round pick *and* cash for Roko. And I think you meant Pops (PMB) and not POB.
2 marco’s in T.O , lol . im think this kid will be startin
Looks like he knows how to create his own shot and shots for others. Does Devean George do that? BONUS!!
Kleiza has to be the back up 3. BC needs to remain committed to the Euro. He CANNOT stop now…
4get kleiza, wouldnt you rather have leon powe or marvin williams, sum1 who can do what kleiza does and still be athletic and tough.
jarrett jack and one of those guys of the bench would be a powerfull tandem to bring in off a nba bench. kleiza jus kinda blends in and his a shot now and again..
in other words a watse man
Yup, if I could pick anyone without any regard for salary or salary cap rules, Marvin Williams would be wonderful. But since we’re not living in la-la land, 1) Marvin Williams already signed a multi-year deal for $8 mil per, and 2) there’s no way we could have acquired him after we committed to Turkoglu, so your point is moot. Why not go after Kobe while you’re at it; he’d look great in a Raptor’s uniform. =P
hey he dropped 81 here so maybe he likes the air out here lol. ok williams is unsignable, i kno, but my point was that kleiza is not what we need, and maybe we could get a sign and trade with ATL (doubtful). we need one more defender on the perimiter thats long enough to have success affecting shots close to the rim, and can grab boards… (ala powe who is unrestricted right now)
but can we agree kleiza is not that guy
Not doubtful, but impossible. We wouldn’t have anything to give them to make the deal work. And no, nobody wants Delfino for $5 mil; he’s only worth about $2-3 mil to teams outside of Toronto, and for that money, he’s staying in Russia.
Powe would be great *if* you ignore the fact that he tore his ACL, so no, Powe wouldn’t be that guy either since he’s more likely to sit out the season than he is to play any minutes at this point.
Kleiza may not be perfect, and it’s not even likely we can get him if we wanted, but you don’t have much to choose from when all you have to offer is whatever’s left of the MLE or minimum contracts.
ok stop bursting my bubbles lmao.
ok names aside, jus from a a skills stand point, i cant even belive we want kleiza, i dont see a area he would help us in, i see him doin the same shit he’s doing in denver, witch is nothing. i think we need a powe “type” player who will hustle for us, i like pops but he dosent do much else but hustle, but thats more to offer than kleiza. but your right there arent very many free agents out there for us
trade ukic/sign pops/ and see whats left
and now that we have marco, maybe delfino can be signed and traded in a package with ukic?
iunno what we’d get but these guys just arent useful to our roster anymore
Bursting bubbles is what I do. ;)
I understand where you’re coming from, but most teams have to deal with players who aren’t useful anymore, especially when it’s a matter of talent. It’s not impossible to trade Ukic, but they need to find someone who wants him. At the moment, I haven’t heard of a single team that wants him. It’s also not a big deal if Ukic stays with the Raptors. If he’s really that useless, he’ll just be one of the inactive 3. Those players won’t be contributing anything except when someone gets injured anyway.
Also, it’s pretty certain that if we don’t sign Delfino for ourselves, you’re not going to see him in a sign and trade to another team. You generally only see sign and trades when a team wants a player that it otherwise cannot afford under salary cap rules. Delfino wants $5 mil a year for multiple years. No other team aside from Toronto would even consider that, so why would they want to pull a sign and trade for him?
Unless BC can pull off another miracle, the best thing to do now is wait for free agents to become resigned to the reality that all they’re going to get is a minimum contract, then pick one of many imperfect players to try and fill that last spot.
Hey I think you’re on to something J Bryant lived in Italy and speaks the language. So gettin’ Kobe would be like having a Sudo-Italian on the Little Italy Raps. He be “part of the family”.
i dont think another euro is the answer, we need a proven vet at any postion other than guard, SF would be best, as good a job BC has done so far, what are the expectations this year, the 4th spot? i love the raps but last year i really though the east was weak anough for JO and bosh to dominate ( i was way off) but im jus sick of beliveing and being dissapointed, with triano in his first full season and all these new faces,and still no D or rebounds, (evans alone does not address that issue) where do we honestly stand. americans think we havent really done much, and there usually right about us..
does anyone really belive we could get to the 2nd round
jose
derozan (midway tho the season i hope)
turk
bosh
bargs
jack/douby
“rocky”/wright/douby
wright
evans
rasho
i think thats decent but are we “there yet”?
It’s honestly a bit too early to wonder if we’re a 2nd round playoff team. Half the roster has been changed, and they’ve yet to play a single minute together. What’s good is this looks to be an interesting season and an interesting team to follow. Let the rest of the pieces fall as they may.
i agree, but im jus excited for the season to start lol. well with our money situation, we cant do much, i dont see how we could get worst at this point? so any moves from here should make us better, so with that, what do u think the expectations are from BC’s standpoint, and if we dont make it to round 2 or miss the playoffs entirly, will triano still coach
Don’t think anyone can know for sure what’s going on inside BC’s head, but what he should expect is for the team to compete and be entertaining.
I doubt Triano would be replaced simply for missing the second round of the playoffs, and it’s hard to say what would happen if Toronto misses the playoffs again. There’s going to be too many factors at play (i.e. Bosh) to predict something so far off in the future. =)
That said, I am definitely excited and can’t believe the season won’t start for so many more months.
me neither, i only blog now cuz i cant contain my habit off talkin about basketball, when the season starts i will be at peace
ps now that my lakers have odom back look for the repeat, i kno theres alot of laker haters out there, but they are the champs (& back to back western confernce champs), u gotta respect them, and phil jackson..
lets go lakers & raps
Another Euro would at least be interesting. I feel like they should embrace the Euro and become like a heel team, just really unlikeable to all the fans of US based teams (Global Stern would still have their back, because after all – he is Global Stern). Like Bosh should be ostracised when he reports back to camp for the US because of his affiliattion to the team (we probably need an incident where someone coathangers Lebron on a drive to the basket, then refuses to help him up and maybe makes some disparaging remark in a foreign language to spark it)…
Also the Italians should make references to Toronto basketball being like late 1400’s Florence and try appealling to the intellectuals.
I would also totally be for post game press conferences where representatives just read from books like Crime and Punishment, finish and walk off without mentioning the game.
Or not…
NY Knicks 2009 payroll — $74 Million
NY Knicks 2010 payroll — $23 Million
If you don’t think they can buy Lebron AND Bosh .. and put good role players around them ……
!!!!!
Say bye bye to Bosh next season … and say hello to a Euro-Raptor team in 2010-11 … believe it.
(Maybe sign and trade Bosh for Lee and Gallinari …)
Well, that will all depend on what the salary cap is set at, won’t it? If it’s $50-53 mil as projected, there’s not enough room for two max contracts, let alone any good role players. Unless you think one of Lebron or Bosh will take a hefty paycut to play with Curry, Jefferies, Gallinari, Hill, Douglas and five to six minimum contract players.
BTW, get your numbers right. Those five players will add up to $25.2 mil in salary next year, and that’s only if neither Nate Robinson nor David Lee re-sign for more than one-year deals and the Knicks decide to not pick up Wilson Chandler’s team option for next year. Course, perhaps you’re thinking they’ll let Gallinari go as well, but then next year’s Knicks roster will be a joke.
The Knicks 2010-2011 starting lineup:
C Eddy Curry
PF Chris Bosh
SF Lebron James
SG Minimum Contract
PG Toney Douglas
With a bench of:
SF Jared Jefferies
PF Jordan Hill
… and 5 more minimum contracts.
*AND* Bosh would still need to take a paycut.
Hmmm…
Whoa, BC is really living up to the hype that surrounded him when he came here a couple years back. Adding Belinelli in one swoop has made Delfino expendable and also added another player that will be solid, and can take and make big shots. I wouldn’t be surprised if he hits a couple game winners for us next season. I think everyone is underestimating Reggie Evan’s impact on the team. I think that when he is in there, the rebounding deficiencies that we’ve had in the past will be gone. I mean, i know we could use more rebounding, but think about it, if Bosh and Evans are on the court together, we got boards. If Bargnani and Evans are on the court together, we got boards. If Rasho and Evans are on the court together (heaven forbid its for a significant stretch) we still got boards. I mean, its not like Bosh doesn’t rebound at all, and Bargnani will be a better defensive rebounder next season anyways. I think we will be fine rebounding wise. What we need now is perhaps an athletic 3/4 guy (almost in the mould of Hakim Warrick) who can provide athletic offense from that position on the bench. I really believe that they should resign Pops though. I think his energy will be valuable and he will be better if he has a whole training camp with the team.
Man watching that video I get an image of MB going off for 20+ and the whole ACC shouting “Rocky Rocky Rocky”. That would be so cool lol.