July 24, 2012 -- The Chicago Bulls announced today the team has signed free agent guard Marco Belinelli (mark-o bell-ee-nell-ee). In accordance with team policy, terms of the contract were not announced.
Belinelli (6-5, 195), comes to the Bulls having played the last two seasons with the New Orleans Hornets. He broke into the league with the Golden State Warriors in 2007, where he played for two seasons after being drafted in the first round of the 2007 NBA Draft (18th overall). He also spent the 2009-10 season with the Toronto Raptors.
Last season with the Hornets, the Bologna, Italy, native appeared in 66 games (55 starts) and averaged career highs in points (11.8 ppg), rebounds (2.6 rpg) and minutes (29.8 mpg). He shot .417 from the field, .377 from behind the arc and .783 from the line.
For his career, the 26-year old Belinelli has played in 287 regular season games (148 starts) and posted averages of 8.9 ppg, 1.8 rpg, 1.3 apg, 21.5 mpg, .424 field goal shooting, .393 three-point shooting and .796 from the line. In six playoff games, he has averaged 9.7 ppg in 28.7 mpg and shot .365 from the field, .308 from three-point range and 1.000 from the free throw line.