Andrea Bargnani (Italian pronunciation: [anˈdrɛːa barˈɲaːni]; born 26 October 1985) is an Italian former professional basketball player. The 7-foot (2.13 m) power forward-center played for Benetton Treviso in the Italian LBA and the EuroLeague before being selected first overall in the 2006 NBA draft by the Toronto Raptors. He spent 10 seasons in the NBA, including with the New York Knicks and Brooklyn Nets, before ending his career with a stint in Spain during the 2016–17 season.
Stella Azzurra Roma (2002–2003)
Bargnani began his basketball career in 2002–03 with Stella Azzurra Roma in the Italian fourth-tiered league Serie B2, averaging 13.2 points and 4.5 rebounds in 23 games.
In 2003–04, Bargnani joined LBA side Benetton Treviso. He posted averages of 4.2 points and 1.6 rebounds in 10 games. He made eight appearances in the EuroLeague, recording 2.4 points and 1.5 rebounds per outing. Incidentally, Bargnani faced his future team, the Toronto Raptors, on 20 October 2003 in a pre-season game at Air Canada Centre. He tallied 13 points, five rebounds, one steal and two blocks in 22 minutes in an 86–83 defeat to the Raptors.
In 2004–05, he averaged 6.8 points and 3.1 rebounds in 28 LBA games for Benetton, and averaged 3.7 points and 2.1 rebounds in 12 EuroLeague matches.
In the 2005–06 LBA season, he averaged 12 points, 5.6 rebounds, 1.3 blocks and 1.4 steals in 47 games for Benetton. He posted a season high of 25 points against Rome. He shot .483 from the field and .399 from three-point range, and led the LBA in blocks with 63. In the process, he helped lead Benetton to the 2006 LBA title. In the 2005–06 EuroLeague season, he contributed 10.9 points, 4.1 rebounds and 1.3 steals, while shooting .508 percent from the floor and .434 from three-point range in 18 games. He posted a season-high 20 points against Panathinaikos and Strasbourg. Bargnani was subsequently named the EuroLeague Rising Star, the award given to each EuroLeague season's best EuroLeague player aged 22 or under, for the 2005–06 season.
As a prospect, Bargnani drew many comparisons to German NBA player Dirk Nowitzki, mainly due to his ability to shoot from the perimeter, his mobility despite his size, and his ball-handling skills. Bargnani entered the 2006 NBA draft and was selected first overall by the Toronto Raptors. He is the first European player, sixth non-American player, and second player without U.S. college or high school experience to be drafted first overall, after Yao Ming.
Bargnani made his regular-season debut against the New Jersey Nets on 1 November 2006, posting 2 points, 2 rebounds and 2 blocks in eight minutes of play. In the process, he also became the fourth-ever Italian-born player to play in the NBA. Like many rookies, Bargnani took some time to adapt to the league and as he slowly improved his game, his confidence and playing time increased. In turn, the home fans soon warmed up to Bargnani; on 7 January 2007, ten thousand Bargnani figurines were given away at Air Canada Centre for the game against the Washington Wizards. As the mid-season approached, Bargnani was selected as NBA's Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month (January 2007), joining teammate Jorge Garbajosa (winner of the award in December 2006) as the sixth Raptors player to win the monthly honour. Together with Garbajosa, Bargnani was also selected to play in the T-Mobile Rookie Challenge game. After the All-Star break, Bargnani continued to work on his defence and shooting (averaging 14.3 points per game (ppg) and 3.9 rebounds per game (rpg) in 12 games in February 2007), and he was selected as the Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month for the second straight time on 1 March 2007. Bargnani became the third Raptor ever to win the award twice, joining Vince Carter and Damon Stoudamire.
On 21 March 2007, Bargnani underwent emergency appendectomy surgery after being taken to hospital following illness experienced after practice the night before. He recovered after about a month, and ended the season averaging 11.6 points and 3.9 rebounds per game. His performances were credited as helping the Raptors to their first-ever Division title, as well as their first NBA playoffs berth in five years; Bargnani came in second for NBA Rookie of the Year. In the 2007 NBA playoffs, Bargnani averaged 11.0 ppg and 4.0 rpg as the Raptors were defeated by the New Jersey Nets 4–2 in the first round. On 8 May 2007, Bargnani and Garbajosa were named to the NBA All-Rookie team.
On 5 October 2007, the Raptors announced they had exercised a third-year option on Bargnani, giving a guaranteed NBA contract through the 2008–09 season and retaining a fourth-year option for the 2009–10 season. Prior to the 2007–08 season, Bargnani was voted by the general managers of the league as the "international player most likely to have a breakout season". He was selected to play with the Sophomores in the T-Mobile Rookie Challenge during the NBA All-Star Game. Bargnani was widely criticised for having a poor season. His statistics had gone down, he was not grabbing enough rebounds, was unable to shoot well, got into foul trouble easily and did not drive to the basket enough. He did not feature prominently in the playoffs either—in which the Raptors were eliminated by the Orlando Magic in the first round—and there were even calls for him to be traded.
However, Toronto did not give up on Bargnani yet and committed the entire summer coaching him to become a more effective interior player, forcing him to drive to the basket more and settle less for jump shots. The arrival of six-time NBA All-Star Jermaine O'Neal also meant that Bargnani was likely to come off the bench in most games, with Bosh and O'Neal forming the starting frontcourt. During the summer he worked hard on his body, putting up some more weight (adding some 15 pounds [7 kg] of muscle); this work showed his effects in the first games of the regular campaign, when he was more willing to rebound in traffic and drive to the basket. He also seemed to rediscover his shooting stroke, had better shot selection and became a consistent shot-blocker, and he was soon moved to the starting line-up as small forward.
On 21 November 2008, Bargnani recorded a career-high 29 points, as well as 10 rebounds in an overtime loss against New Jersey. After some stumbles in December, he hit good form in January, averaging 21.2 points and 6.7 rebounds over a 15-game stretch as he became the starting center in place for the injured O'Neal, recording a career-high 31 points against Chicago in the process. O'Neal was then traded to Miami during the All-Star break, allowing the Italian to regain his starting spot for the rest of the season. He averaged 19.8, 17.9 and 20.3 points per game for January, February and March, respectively, even as Toronto went on several losing streaks and gradually fell out of the playoff race. The Raptors concluded the regular season with 33 wins, and ranked 13th in the Eastern Conference. Meanwhile, Bargnani recorded career-high averages in points per game, field goal percentage, three-point percentage, rebounds and blocks. On 8 July 2009, he signed a contract extension with the Raptors that paid him US$50 million over five seasons, starting in 2010–11.
Bargnani's form and numbers continued in the 2009–10 season. In the first ten games, the center averaged 19.3 points, 5.7 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per game; by mid-season, he had seven double-doubles, a career high. Toronto struggled at the start of the season, going as low as six games below .500, but reached the mid-point with a 21–20 record. On 2 February 2010, Bargnani scored a career-high 34 points in a loss against the Indiana Pacers; he later scored 33 in a game against the Detroit Pistons. Although Toronto were six games above .500 at one point, their form spiralled downwards after the All-Star break. Coupled with two separate injuries to Chris Bosh, Toronto slid from the fifth seed to the eighth, and were subsequently locked in a race with Chicago for the final spot. That spot was only decided on the final day, when Chicago won their last game and ended the season 41–41, one game ahead of Toronto. On Bargnani's part, he averaged career highs in points, rebounds, blocks and minutes.