Trade Grades: Who wins Kings-Hornets trade for Marco Belinelli?

ByKEVIN PELTON
June 23, 2016, 7:59 PM

The Deal

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Kings get: 2016's No. 22 pick

Charlotte Hornets: D-

Earlier Thursday, there were indications that Charlotte wanted to move the No. 22 pick to clear the salary of either Spencer Hawes or Jeremy Lamb. Although a steep price, that made some sense if the Hornets hoped to keep free agent Jeremy Lin, since re-signing him will likely require them to use cap space.

My best guess is the Hornets see Belinelli as a replacement for deadline addition Courtney Lee, an unrestricted free agent. Renouncing Lee (who counts $8.5 million against the cap) and Al Jefferson, in conjunction with minor moves, would clear about $10 million in cap space for Charlotte. Lin will probably get more but that at least allows the Hornets to make a competitive offer, particularly if they give him the ability to opt out next summer when they'll have Early Bird rights.

However, Belinelli isn't nearly the defender or efficient scorer that Lee is. Surely, Charlotte is hoping to get the version of Belinelli who was a valuable reserve for the San Antonio Spurs when they won the 2014 NBA championship. Outside the warm cocoon that is the Spurs' offense, Belinelli hasn't posted a league-average true shooting percentage since 2010-11. He's likely to bounce back after shooting 30.6 percent from 3-point range last season, but he's also now 30 so the upside is limited.

At best, I think Belinelli will be worth his salary the next two seasons, which would make it tough to justify giving up a rookie contract to get him. And if Charlotte makes this deal and still loses Lin, it will be hard to rationalize.

Sacramento Kings: A

For the Kings, this is a pure value play. They not only get out of the last two years of Belinelli's contract but also pick up an additional first-round pick, which is far better than Sacramento could have reasonably expected. Kudos to the Kings for being willing to move on so quickly from a player they signed last summer when the right deal arose.

Sacramento can now get more than $26 million under the cap to re-sign Rajon Rondo or sign a replacement point guard -- perhaps even Lin.

For the Kings to get a pick nearly as good as Brooklyn got for Thaddeus Young earlier Thursday is incredible.