SACRAMENTO, CA -- The Kings finally got a valuable player to sign on to the Sac-town squad. Marc Belinelli is headed to play for George Karl on a three-year, $19 million deal.
The 29 year-old Italian sharpshooter had been with the San Antonio Spurs since 2013, and won an NBA championship while playing for coach Gregg Popovich. Belinelli played a key role off the bench in San Antonio, providing key reserve scoring and clutch shooting throughout the season.
Belinelli proved his worth on the big stages, winning the Three-Point Shootout during the 2014 NBA All-Star Weekend. Then, he became the first Italian player to win the NBA Finals in 2014, after a postseason in which he had career playoff lows but still shot 42.% from beyond-the-arc. Belinelli knocked down a key three-pointer in Game 3 of the NBA Finals against the Miami Heat, a shot that brought the Spurs' lead back up to double-digits.
The joint stat line for Marco over his two seasons in San Antonio stands as follows. 10.4 points per game, 2.7 assists, and 40.5% three-point shooting. He played 24.0 minutes per game after starting in 34 of his 142 appearances for the Spurs in the NBA regular season. Belinelli's career numbers are just slightly under his San Antonio totals.
Sacramento has been looking endlessly to sign scorers and shooters with whom to surround big man DeMarcus Cousins. Belinelli is the perfect guy for the Kings, as his shooting will provide energy and consistency, while he can play very solid defense and not demand too much possession in taking away from Boogie Cousins.
The Kings are still making an effort to coax Rajon Rondo into teaming up with Cousins after striking out with Wesley Matthews. The only other major move so far for Sacramento this offseason has been a salary-dumping trade that sent Nik Stauskas, Jason Thompson, and Carl Landry to Philadelphia in exchange for rights to international players, a protected first-round pick from Sacramento, and the swapping of first-round picks in two other drafts.
Marco Belinelli entered the NBA in 2007, when the Golden State Warriors selected him 18th overall in the '07 Draft.