Andrea Bargnani won’t be the only Italian Stallion on the Toronto Raptors anymore. The Raptors shipped newly acquired Devean George, who Toronto received in the mega deal that shipped Shawn Marion to Dallas and allowed the Raps to sign Turkoglu, to Golden State in exchange. It’s not the biggest move, but it proves that Toronto is still looking to the future. Their willingness to continue to build a team around Chris Bosh, so that he resigns in Toronto, is priority one amidst all of these shifty moves by Colangelo.
Belinelli is the 18th overall pick from the 2007 NBA Draft, and was drafted right behind guys like Al Thornton, Rodney Stuckey and Nick Young. Though he averaged just 8.9 points per game and 2.1 assists in 42 games during the 2008-09 NBA Betting Online season, Bellini did have a 13-game stretch where he averaged 16.0 points per game. The Italian shooting-guard made a name for himself during the 2006 FIBA World Championships where he played for the national team of Italy and averaged 13.5 points per game. Against the U.S. National Team, Belinelli scored 25 points in a preliminary game loss. In short the kid has talent, but we just aren’t sure how much.
Don Nelson was extremely high on Belinelli after the 2007 summer league and the injuries the Italian sustained that have kept him in only 75 games in two seasons allowed the staff in Golden State to lose some faith in the speedy guard. Trading Belinelli to the Raptors had more to do with the pressing financial situation of the Warriors. Toronto will assume most of George’s contract with the cash considerations paid to Golden State in the trade.
This move alone isn’t enough to secure Bosh. But Belinelli, DeRozan, Calderon, Turkoglu, Jarrett Jack and Bargnani will have to prove that the Raptors are a team worth signing on to long-term. For the short-term, they are slowly inching towards respectability in the eyes of their gambling online faithful who were burned at the stake by Toronto.
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