Report: Hornets acquire Marco Belinelli for No. 22 pick in 2016 draft
The Charlotte Hornets will not be making a first-round selection in the 2016 NBA draft, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical.
The franchise acquired veteran guard Marco Belinelli from the Sacramento Kings in exchange for the No. 22 overall pick.
The deal will not be made official until July.
The 6-foot-5 shooter out of Italy is signed through the 2017-18 season at $6.3 million per year. Belinelli, 30, will be entering his ninth season in the league with his sixth different team. He averaged 10.2 points per game last season while shooting a career-low 30.6 percent from the outside.
Still, despite posting sub-replacement level numbers last season in Sacramento, Belinelli fits a need as a backup guard for a franchise poised to watch Jeremy Lin and Courtney Lee enter free agency. He's a career 37.9 percent shooter on nearly 2,000 3-point attempts. Defensive expectations for Belinelli are extremely low — he's posted a 105 defensive rating or worse in each of his nine seasons — but at $6.3 million in the NBA's rising salary cap, it's a decent contract for a rotation player.
