San Antonio Spurs: Could Marco Belinelli Fill Potential Danny Green Void?

By Gerald Bourguet | May 24, 2015

Dec 19, 2014; San Antonio, TX, USA; San Antonio Spurs shooting guard Marco Belinelli (3) talks with Manu Ginobili (20) during the second half against the Portland Trail Blazers at AT&T Center. Mandatory Credit: Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports /

The San Antonio Spurs are approaching quite possibly the most important offseason in franchise history. At the very least, it’s the most important one since Tim Duncan was talking to the Orlando Magic back in 2000. With a number of important players becoming free agents and the futures of Duncan and Manu Ginobili up in the air, this perennial powerhouse could look very different next season.

Locking in Kawhi Leonard to a mega-extension is obviously the Spurs’ top priority. At age 23, Leonard has already won a Finals MVP Award, a Defensive Player of the Year Award and narrowly missed out on All-NBA Third Team honors this year. He’s going to be a two-way star and the face of the franchise after Duncan’s time is done.

But the second most important free agent for San Antonio this summer is undoubtedly Danny Green, the Spurs’ sharpshooter who wasn’t particularly sharp with his shooting in their first round playoff exit.

Green converted only 30.4 percent of his threes in that seven-game series against the Los Angeles Clippers, but he’s sure to receive some nice offers this summer after shooting 41.8 percent from downtown on the season. If Duncan and Ginobili decide they want to give it another go in 2015-16, San Antonio will be hard pressed for cap space to lock in Leonard AND keep their important free agents around.

The question is, how much will Green’s potential departure hurt San Antonio?

This past season, Green averaged a 11.7 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game — all career highs. He shot nearly 42 percent from deep on a career-high 5.6 three-point attempts per game. But just as importantly, he formed one of the NBA’s best wing tandems on the defensive end, terrorizing opponents with length, speed and intelligence.

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So yes, losing Green to unrestricted free agency would be an underrated blow to this Spurs team.

Now, there’s always a chance the Spurs front office is able to work their usual magic. Unlike the vast majority of teams in the league, San Antonio’s winning culture is hard for players to turn down just so they can make a little extra money. It’s a case-by-case basis, obviously, but we’ve seen players choose the Spurs’ championship pedigree over more lucrative free agency offers in the past.

With that in mind, it’s entirely possible the 27-year-old Green doesn’t want to leave the place that gave him his first legitimate shot at being a productive NBA player. He could very well sign on a discount contract to help the Spurs keep the gang together for another season.

But if the lure of receiving his well-earned payday is too strong, the Spurs will be left with a 3-and-D shaped-hole in the starting rotation. The question would then become, could anyone possibly fill it that’s already on the roster?

The first name that comes to mind is Marco Belinelli, San Antonio’s Italian swingman who was brilliant in spots and non-existent in others this year.

For those who take Danny Green for granted, it’d be easy to wonder if Belinelli could replace him. The Spurs would definitely be able to re-sign Marco to a cheaper contract and a few of Belinelli’s better games make the distinction between the two a little blurrier with Green coming off a very underwhelming playoff series.

For example, in Game 6 of San Antonio’s first round series against the Clippers, it was Belinelli who kept the Spurs in the game. He dropped 23 points in 22 minutes, going 7-for-11 from three-point range. He was simply unconscious.

Belinelli averaged 9.3 points per game for the series, shooting 51.3 percent from the floor and 46.7 percent from three-point range. With Green struggling, Belinelli stepped up. Isn’t that exactly what the Spurs would need from him?

As tempting as it’d be to take the cheaper route in the event of a Danny Green departure, there’s really no reason to believe Belinelli would be able to fill the void.

At 29 years old, Belinelli is probably about as good as he’s ever going to be. He’s not a very good defender, and the Spurs would be downgrading in a major way on that end of the floor. Belinelli’s 105.1 defensive rating was the worst among all Spurs who actually got regular minutes.

Green’s 98.4 defensive rating is impressive enough as it is; then you remember he played more minutes this season than any other Spur and it becomes borderline elite. Either way, his defense is intrinsic to this team’s success.

Per NBA.com, opponents shot nearly three percent better on all shots they took when defended by Belinelli. Against Green, they shot one percent worse.

But surely Belinelli could make up for it with his three-point shooting, right? Not particularly. San Antonio would also be downgrading in terms of three-point shooting; though he’s a noted marksman, Belinelli only made 37.4 percent of his 3.7 three-point attempts per game, compared to Green’s 41.8 percent on 5.6 attempts.

That means he’s less efficient on fewer attempts — not a great sign for a team that’d already be bleeding points defensively.

The Spurs have a lot of question marks to address heading into this extremely important offseason; but it’s pretty clear that if Danny Green leaves for his well-earned payday, San Antonio should know they won’t be able to replace him with Marco Belinelli.

Next: NBA: 5 Playoff Teams Facing Franchise-Altering Summers

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