NBA Trade Deadline: Every Timberwolves trade rumor from this week
By Ben Beecken
Marco Belinelli
The Atlanta Hawks are tied for the worst record in the NBA at 17-37. They don’t have a need for a 3-point specialist, and Marco Belinelli’s 37.7 career 3-point shooting percentage would be of value to virtually every potential playoff team.
Belinelli played for Tom Thibodeau’s 2012-13 Chicago Bulls squad that won 47 games. Belinelli shot just 35.7 percent from beyond the arc that year, which is his second-worst long-range shooting season in his 11-year NBA career. He doesn’t contribute much outside of shooting, but has played in a variety of systems and has virtually always been an effective rotation piece.
The Star Tribune’s Jerry Zgoda said on Tuesday that he does not think the Wolves will “stand pat” at the deadline, and followed that up by suggesting that a shooter such as Belinelli could be the type of player they end up landing. Later on Tuesday, regarding Belinelli:
A shooter on the trade market who played a season in Chicago for Thibs. Hawks showed some interest in signing Bazz as FA last summer. https://t.co/RWZhOpw8V9
— Jerry Zgoda (@JerryZgoda) February 7, 2018
Also from Tuesday, Marc Stein reported that the Hawks have told Belinelli that he will likely be moved.
The Hawks have informed veteran sharpshooter Marco Belinelli that he is on course to be traded by Thursday's 3 p.m. deadline, league sources say. Atlanta said to still be weighing its options in terms of exactly where it will send him with multiple teams interested
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) February 7, 2018
According to Zgoda, a potential trade could be something like Shabazz Muhammad, plus a draft pick of some kind, in exchange for Belinelli.
This is exactly the kind of deal that would likely constitute a best-case scenario for the Wolves: not mortgaging the future or further tying up cap space, but also not upsetting the apple cart by messing with the current rotation too much or trading away value of any kind.