Rookie of the Year: The Marco Belinelli Thread

[LofJ]

After Ajinca Bellineli was my top trade target for us, so I was never mad at this move. I was hoping we'd be able to bring Lin back and therefore not have to trade for a replacement (and keep our pick) but this move made it pretty clear that we expect him to leave.

The only problem, as MotorKeepsGoing alluded to above, is that a Marco-Lamb pairing in the backcourt is extremely poor defensively. We may have solved one problem (bench playmaker) but we've created another in the process (bench perimeter D).

If we renounce Lee and Al we'll have about 12 million to find another big and plug in a wing defender. In this cap environment that is easier said than done unfortunately. Cho and the front office need to be working overtime to find an overlooked gem that can fill that role because I suspect the rest of our cap is earmarked for a big.

[JDR720]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/rick_bonnell/status/747423360716529664[/tweet]

[antique0o0]

The more I think about this trade, the more I believe Hornets is stuck with Lamb's contract.
He won't even make into the rotation and Hornets will pay him 7m per year. No other team will want take a three year contract like this.

[BlackOutBuzz]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/rick_bonnell/status/747423360716529664[/tweet]

Cool, so let's just kill the deal already. As an act of good faith we'll even take back Skal instead of Richardson.

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[Flip Murray]

wow our medical staff sucks right? Belinelli already injured.

[fatlever]

Injuries are a way of life as a Hornet as Marco has quickly found out.

[BuzzCity]

So is nobody buying the theory of the 3 way trade between the kings, bucks and us? Hornets Planet has been discussing it quite a bit. I want to believe it just cuz it's more exciting but I dunno

[fatlever]

So is nobody buying the theory of the 3 way trade between the kings, bucks and us? Hornets Planet has been discussing it quite a bit. I want to believe it just cuz it's more exciting but I dunno

No, not buying it, at least not until someone A) has any kind of proof a deal is being discussed B) someone give a convincing argument about why the Bucks would benefit from the deal C) someone shows a version of a trade that works under CBA D) convinces me that all 3 teams wouldn't be breaking rules by discussing Lee signing with Kings prior to July 1st.

Answer those 4, or hell, just the last 3 points and maybe I'll listen.

[fatlever]

btw, I'm not totally against the notion that the Marco deal includes at least something yet revealed and the Kings being interested in Lee certainly raises an eyebrow. That being said, its a big leap to then widen the trade to include the Bucks, just because we like a few of their assets (or because they drafted Brogdon).

The Kings and Hornets building a trade around a pending free agent prior to July 1st just reeks of illegal activity (please correct me if I am wrong on this front). But if I am not, I don't see any chance the Hornets take that kind of risk. Now the Kings, who knows, they are a wildcard. Maybe they don't remember the Joe Smith fiasco.

[LofJ]

btw, I'm not totally against the notion that the Marco deal includes at least something yet revealed and the Kings being interested in Lee certainly raises an eyebrow. That being said, its a big leap to then widen the trade to include the Bucks, just because we like a few of their assets (or because they drafted Brogdon).

The Kings and Hornets building a trade around a pending free agent prior to July 1st just reeks of illegal activity (please correct me if I am wrong on this front). But if I am not, I don't see any chance the Hornets take that kind of risk. Now the Kings, who knows, they are a wildcard. Maybe they don't remember the Joe Smith fiasco.

The rumor that we were interested in Papagiannis coupled with DraftExpress moving him up the board to 22 right before the draft is the reason why I think there is a possibility that something more is brewing between us and the Kings. It was a WTF pick that doesn't make any sense from a roster construction standpoint. This is the Kings we're talking about here though so I wouldn't be shocked if PapaG was who they were targeting, but it's too strange of a coincidence to just outright ignore. I don't place any stock in Milwaukee being included in a 3 way trade with us and the Kings, there's no evidence for it.

[yosemiteben]

My thought in including MIL is entirely based on our desire for a big with a solid post presence and their desire to dump Monroe. I can't see us resigning Al (who has had injury issues two years in a row) over trading for Monroe, who is much younger, has a similar skillset as Al and has generally been injury free since he was drafted.

[fatlever]

My thought in including MIL is entirely based on our desire for a big with a solid post presence and their desire to dump Monroe. I can't see us resigning Al (who has had injury issues two years in a row) over trading for Monroe, who is much younger, has a similar skillset as Al and has generally been injury free since he was drafted.

OK, I see where you are coming from, but can you lay out a trade that works and makes sense for all 3 teams?

[fatlever]

I mean, it would be nice if the trade was something like:

Kings get #22
Hornets get Marco and Brogdon
Bucks get Lamb

But, if that was the trade, no reason to keep the Bucks side of it a secret. And I don't think I'd give up Brodgon for Lamb if I was the Bucks.

If the trade is includes PapaG, then what value are we giving up to get him? And again, why would there be any secrecy?

The trade for Marco doesn't make a ton of sense other than Hornets wanted a cheaper wing to replace Lee who they knew they could not resign. Adding in all these other layers to the trade makes even less sense than the original, because the details would have surfaced by now if it was bigger.

[BlackOutBuzz]

Adding in all these other layers to the trade makes even less sense than the original, because the details would have surfaced by now if it was bigger.

Which is why a lot of the speculation centers around Lee. Pending free agent can't be traded, and discussions over his rights at this point are borderline at best (hence this being guarded like a national secret).

In reality, though, the most likely reason is simply that we can't take on salary alone until we renounce some contracts next month to create cap room. Unfortunately this also means we lose roughly half of our MLE.

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[fatlever]

Unfortunately this also means we lose roughly half of our MLE.

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This is what I was asking you about yesterday, right? Creating cap space to absorb Marco means we lose any chance of using MLE and are stuck with room exception, right?

Of course, staying over the cap would only make sense if we were trying to keep Batum, Marvin and either Jefferson or Lee. I don't see Lee happening based on this trade and the talk of him getting 14 mil and we have to renounce Jefferson to get under cap enough to take in Marco, right? So it doesn't seem like MLE was ever going to be in play for us, unless I am missing something.

[BlackOutBuzz]

Unfortunately this also means we lose roughly half of our MLE.

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This is what I was asking you about yesterday, right? Creating cap space to absorb Marco means we lose any chance of using MLE and are stuck with room exception, right?

Of course, staying over the cap would only make sense if we were trying to keep Batum, Marvin and either Jefferson or Lee. I don't see Lee happening based on this trade and the talk of him getting 14 mil and we have to renounce Jefferson to get under cap enough to take in Marco, right? So it doesn't seem like MLE was ever going to be in play for us, unless I am missing something.

The missing piece here is Lamb or Hawes. If we send out near equal money in the same transaction as the Belinelli one, we keep the full MLE. If, instead, we absorb Belinelli into cap space, then the MLE is reduced to the Room.

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[BlackOutBuzz]

Alternatively this could mean a S&T of Lee ($14M) for Belinelli ($6.3M) + another player in the $4-6M range.

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[yosemiteben]

Of course, staying over the cap would only make sense if we were trying to keep Batum, Marvin and either Jefferson or Lee.

Or if we planned to take on salary via trade (such as by a three way deal where we S&T Lee and receive Monroe).

[fatlever]

Alternatively this could mean a S&T of Lee ($14M) for Belinelli ($6.3M) + another player in the $4-6M range.

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Collison would be the logical choice in that scenario, but with his pending domestic abuse stuff, not sure Hornets want to go down that road again. From a basketball only view, he'd be ideal. One of the few backup PGs in the league I'd put in the same tier as Lin.

On the scale of a Draymond Green moving screen to the Joe Smith under the table deal, how illegal would it be for the Hornets and Kings to create a trade around a free agent-to-be prior to July 1st?

[yosemiteben]

On the scale of a Draymond Green moving screen to the Joe Smith under the table deal, how illegal would it be for the Hornets and Kings to create a trade around a free agent-to-be prior to July 1st?

Not at all, just can't talk to FAs (which everyone does anyway).