Andrea Bargnani
Tale of the tape: The 27-year-old, 7-foot, 225 lb. Bargnani averages 17.6 points and 4.8 rebounds per 36 minutes this season, shooting 39.8% from the field with a 44.5% effective field goal percentage and a 12.4 PER, his lowest since 2007-08.
Contract: Bargnani is owed roughly $20.8 million over the next two seasons, and has an Early Termination Option for the 2014-15 season worth an additional $11.5 million. The ETO is his choice, not the team’s.
Roundtable:
Justin DeFeo: As much as I have a soft spot for stretch fours, I don’t like Bargnani when paired up with Brook Lopez. Brook needs a psychotic, rebound-crazed, human pitbull (or Reggie Evans) to play next him in order to serve as the hedgeman on pick-and-roll coverages or to deal with tougher matchups. As unique as 7-foot three point shooters are in this league, I’d urge the Brooklyn Nets to pass on Bargnani.
Sandy Dover: Bargnani is a glorified Matt Bullard. He’s a seven-foot small forward who doesn’t rebound well, doesn’t play great defense, and has been overpaid and overrated for the majority of his career. The Brooklyn Nets would get good marketing out of him, but his play is limited. The Nets could have him for Kris Humphries, but that’s not happening.
Mark Ginocchio: A few years ago I enraged the city of Toronto by suggesting that Brook Lopez was a better Center than Andrea Bargnani. It was one of my first posts on Nets Are Scorching, and the vitriol was off the charts. With that said, I just don’t want this guy on my team period, because I hold grudges.
Benjamin Nadeau: Perhaps the most interesting player on the list, Bargnani is expendably disappointing. Unlike Millsap, Bargnani has spent most of this year hurt and the team really hasn’t missed him that much. A big man in love with the long ball, Bargnani couldn’t hit the broad side of Canada at the beginning of this year and pairing him with Brook Lopez (a notoriously “bad” defender) gives me nightmares already.
Max Weisberg: No. Please no. Bargnani is the last guy the Brooklyn Nets need. Yes, Bargnani is a good offensive player, no question about it, but defensively he is a nightmare. It’s no coincidence that the Raptors started winning once Bargnani went down with an injury and was replaced by Ed “Boss” Davis. A front line of Brook Lopez and Andrea Bargnani would be slow and defensively awful. Toss in the contract, and no. Please no.
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