The Sixers Will Add A Shooter For Their Postseason Push In Marco Belinelli


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The Philadelphia 76ers have had a respectable first half to the 2017-18 campaign. Currently, the team is sitting in eighth place in the Eastern Conference with a 28-25 mark, 1.5 games ahead of the ninth place Detroit Pistons. If they are able to keep this up, the Sixers should make the postseason for the first time since the 2011-12 campaign, and with Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons in the fold, it’s possible they can make some noise if they get there.

One area where Philadelphia can stand to improve is on the perimeter, as the team is tied for 14th in the league in three point shooting. Philly is connecting on 36.1 percent of its attempts from downtown, which certainly isn’t bad, but could be better.

There were rumors the team was eyeing up Hawks wing Marco Belinelli at the trade deadline, but the two sides couldn’t agree to a deal. The good news for Philadelphia, though, is that Atlanta bought Belinelli out on Saturday. A few hours later, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reported the Sixers would end up getting the Italian marksman after all.

Even if Belinelli isn’t a major contributor, this is still a great pick up by Philadelphia. The team was able to get him without giving up any assets at the deadline, and as Shams Charania of Yahoo! Sports reported, he won’t cost the Sixers all that much.

As for Belinelli, he seems pretty excited about getting to the City of Brotherly Love.

Belinelli has averaged 11.4 points per game this season, connecting on 41.1 percent of his attempts from the field and 37.2 percent of his shots from downtown. He’s also connecting on a career-best 92.7 percent of his attempts from three.