Marco Belinelli Signs 3-Year Contract with Virtus Bologna After 13 NBA Seasons

Veteran swingman Marco Belinelli will return to Italy after he agreed to a three-year contract with Virtus Bologna, the same team where he began his professional career, according to the Associated Press.

Virtus Bologna competes in Italy's top basketball league, Serie A, where the season began at the end of September and will run through May. 

Belinelli slipped down the San Antonio Spurs' pecking order in 2019-20 as the team focused more on the development of Bryn Forbes, Derrick White and Lonnie Walker IV. He averaged 15 minutes per game, the lowest figure since his rookie season.

That led to a dip in Belinelli's nightly output. He averaged 6.3 points and 1.2 assists. He also shot just 39.2 percent from the field, though his three-point percentage (37.6) was equal to his career average (37.6).

Belinelli, who turns 35 in March, also ranked 107th among shooting guards in defensive real plus-minus (minus-1.26), per ESPN.com.

Despite his age and defensive liabilities, his ability to space the floor all but guaranteed he would land on his feet as a free agent this summer.

According to NBA.com, Belinelli had a 53.3 effective field-goal percentage on catch-and-shoots and a 53.6 effective field-goal rate when he had the ball for fewer than two seconds.

While not a dead-eye shooter, the Italian was good enough to keep opposing defenses honest and can capitalize if left open on the perimeter. In San Antonio's 119-109 victory over the Dallas Mavericks on March 10, he finished with 16 points off the bench, hitting four of his six three-pointers.

In Bologna, Belinelli will join former Los Angeles Clippers guard Milos Teodosic and former University of Miami center Julian Gamble.