Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Marco Belinelli Dealt to New Orleans

The Toronto Raptors have shipped shooting guard Marco Belinelli to the New Orleans Hornets in exchange for small forward Julian Wright.

The Breakdown
This move gives the Hornets a back up to Marcus Thornton. With the lack of guards on New Orleans roster at this point, Belinelli should see more consistent playing time than he did in Toronto last season. Belinelli is a streaky shooter who can be a good source of points and threes if given ample playing time. He is worth a pick late in deep leagues as long as New Orleans doesn't add more depth at shooting guard.

On the other side, the Raptors made this deal to clear up the abundance of shooting guards on their roster. Still, I'm not sure whether Wright will get a chance to play much in Toronto. The Raptors have Linas Kleiza as their likely starting small forward and have DeMar DeRozan and Sonny Weems as wings who could get playing time at either shooting guard or small forward. Wright will have to compete with them in training camp to earn some playing time. I wouldn't use a pick on Wright even in a deep league as I doubt he'll get regular minutes. If he couldn't snag a starting spot in New Orleans, who was very weak at small forward last season, I doubt he can do it in Toronto.

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