REPORT: Kings Trade Belinelli For No. 22 Pick Overall
Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports' The Vertical reported just minutes before the 2016 NBA Draft that the Sacramento Kings have traded away guard Marco Belinelli to the Charlotte Hornets for a first round draft pick (No. 22 overall).
The trade, as Wojnarowski mentioned in the tweet above, will not be official until July 1st, but the Kings have ultimately added another valuable draft pick to go along with their No. 8 and No. 59 overall picks.
Belinelli, 30, has played nine seasons in the NBA after being drafted out of Italy by the Golden State Warriors in 2007 (18th overall). Last year, he averaged just 10.2 points, 1.7 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game, mostly from coming off the bench for the Kings.
The 6-foot-5 shooting guard had his worst shooting season of his career with the Kings last year, shooting just 38.6% from the field and 30.6% from behind the arc. Toward the end of the year, his minutes were being given to younger guards such as Seth Curry and James Anderson.
The Hornets, who owned just one draft pick before this trade, now join the Miami Heat, New York Knicks, Cleveland Cavaliers, Portland Trail Blazers, Washington Wizards and the Oklahoma City Thunder as the only teams without a draft pick at the moment.
