Milwaukee Bucks Trade Rumors: Is Marco Belinelli A Target?

Marco Belinelli has yet to be mentioned in Milwaukee Bucks trade rumors, but could the Bucks be one of the teams interested in the veteran sharpshooter?

With each passing day the Milwaukee Bucks trade rumors grow and grow. Although no reports have linked the Milwaukee Bucks directly to Marco Belinelli, several teams have called about the veteran wing according to James Ham over at CSN Bay Area.

Ham didn’t mention any teams directly, but it doesn’t seem like a huge stretch to assume Milwaukee could have interest in Belinelli. He brings the two things the Bucks need the most right now–veteran leadership and outside shooting.

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Belinelli has struggled mightily this season, but that combined with his recently inked three-year, $19 million contract means his value is pretty low at the moment. According to Ham’s piece the Kings aren’t interested in any trades that won’t improve their team right now, but a move could still be made.

This trade would not be about improving the Bucks right now, by the way. Belinelli would be around for a few seasons, and his time with the San Antonio Spurs means he knows how a good locker room operates. The things he could teach the young Bucks could be beneficial down the road.

As could Belinelli’s long-range shooting. He’s having a down season and currently sporting a three-point percentage of 30.7. That’s a major outlier when looking at Belinelli’s career though, considering he’s made 38.3 percent of his career threes.

If Belinelli could shake himself out of the funk he’s in and settle into a spot-up shooter role in Milwaukee he could contribute a lot to the team over the next two and a half years. But could the Bucks put enough trade chips on the table to snag the former Three-Point Contest champion?

That’s a complicated question. Vlade Divac is Sacramento’s somewhat inexperienced GM. Divac has indeed assembled a fun Kings team, but he’s made some suspect moves to get there.

A salary dump trade that Divac made with the Philadelphia 76ers this summer has been noted by some writers as a questionable move that had the Kings giving up too much just to make a bit of cap room.

On the other hand, despite the signing of Rajon Rondo being widely derided when it happened Rondo has played fantastic basketball in Sacramento, and now his $10 million price tag seems like a bargain.

Divac is willing to make any move that he believes will get his team some more wins. If the Bucks presented a package consisting of some effective veteran players that Divac believes will help Sacramento make the playoffs this year more than Marco Belinelli currently is, a deal could go down.

Jerryd Bayless has slumped a bit lately, but he’s still shooting well over 10 percent higher from three-point range than Belinelli is. The Bucks haven’t been openly shopping Bayless around, but with the way he’s shooting and his expiring deal he certainly seems like a trade candidate.

Bayless for Belinelli doesn’t work thanks to their salaries not matching, but if Milwaukee threw in a role player like Miles Plumlee things get interesting for both sides.

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These teams have talked already this season, after Caron Butler asked for a trade and his camp named Milwaukee as an ideal destination. That deal never happened, but there was almost certainly communication between John Hammond and Divac back then.

Maybe that line of communication will lead to a deal here. That’s far from a certainty, and as mentioned earlier Marco Belinelli has yet to be linked directly in any Milwaukee Bucks trade rumors.

But he’s a name for Bucks fans to keep an eye on as the February 18th trade deadline grows closer and closer. Hammond has historically been known to make moves around the deadline, and although his camp has been fairly quiet so far this season it would be surprising to see Milwaukee not make at least one deal, even if it’s a minor one.

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Milwaukee Bucks Trade Rumors: Is Marco Belinelli An Option?

By Ti Windisch | Feb 3, 2016

Marco Belinelli has yet to be mentioned in Milwaukee Bucks trade rumors, but could the Bucks be one of the teams interested in the veteran sharpshooter?

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