PRO TEAM: Virtus Bologna
VITALS: 7'0", 260 lbs.
YEAR DRAFTED: 1986 by Atlanta (Round 2, Pick 40)
RIGHTS HELD BY: Atlanta
While the first round was rough on the eyes, the second round produced some gems. Hall of Famer Dennis Rodman was a second round selection. Cleveland guard and multiple time All-Star Mark Price was a second rounder. Current Suns coach Jeff Hornacek played 14 seasons in the NBA and has his number retired in Utah. Kevin Duckworth and Nate McMillian had productive careers. Who else had a productive career from the 1986 second round? Virtus Bologna's Augusto Binelli. It just so happened that career was in Italy and not for the Atlanta Hawks.
Binelli played for Virtus Bologna for two decades from 1980-2000. He won a litany of silverware with the team including 5 Italian Scudetti (championships), 4 Italian Cups, and the coveted EuroLeague in 1998 with past and future NBA players Sasha Danilovic, Rasho Nesterovic, and John Amaechi. Future Hall of Famer Manu Ginobili joined the team as Binelli was out the door. Augusto was on the National Team for the EuroBasket European Championships in both 1985 and 1989, taking bronze in '85. Binelli was never a dominant player but as many big men over the years have shown, if you're seven feet and can stay reasonably healthy you can play a long time. The Hawks imported their sixth round pick from '86, Russian Alexander Volkov, in 1989 but never gave Binelli the call. He retired in 2000 so I am fairly certain that call will never come. So why hold on to the rights of a 49 year old Italian whose first pro game was before any current Hawk outside of Elton Brand was even born? I have no clue but I know you shouldn't expect to see this visage entering the Philips Arena any time soon.
Thanks for reading the seventh release of Draft Rights Retained right here on Bleeding Your Colors! I hope you enjoyed it and look forward to bringing you more wacky stories of players who the NBA has long since forgotten, but not their draft rights. Stay locked for a new profile each and every day until the list is exhausted. For more of me, check out my Twitter
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Image Credit: Augusto in 1980 (Wikimedia.org), Augusto now (ytimg.com)