After seven seasons appearing on the stage in Toronto, it looks as if Andrea Bargnani is going to take his act to Broadway.
Bargnani will be sent to the New Knicks in exchange for Steve Novak, Marcus Camby, a first-round pick in 2016 and a pair of second round picks, Sportnet’s Michael Grange has confirmed.
The trade appeared ready to become official on Sunday night but the NBA front office blocked it. The sides then reworked the exchange and it is expected to become official until July 10 after the moratorium om making signings and trades comes to a close. Quentin Richardson will also join the Raptors after agreeing to a sign-and-trade in order to complete the deal.
This is a move the Raptors have been trying to facilitate for the better part of the past year. When Toronto sent the expiring contract of Jose Calderon to Detroit with Ed Davis sent to the Memphis Grizzlies in exchange for Rudy Gay, then-GM Bryan Colangelo joined a live broadcast and admitted to shopping Bargnani.
There is something fitting about Andrea Bargnani’s tenure with the Toronto Raptors ending the same offseason that Colangelo was ushered out as general manager.
After being drafted first overall in Colangelo’s first season at the helm, Bargnani has spent seven years confounding Raptors fans, media and staff alike. Bargnani had talent, potential and unlimited opportunities, but things never fell into place for the seven-footer in Toronto.
Despite his struggles with the Raptors, there will always be value in a seven-footer who can shoot the ball. While the past season was a nightmare for Bargnani, he showed flashes of his potential in the first 11 games of 2011-2012 before sustaining a hamstring injury that robbed him of the better part of two months of action.
In seven seasons with the Raptors, Bargnani averaged 15.2 points and 4.8 rebounds per game. He has $22.25 million remaining over the last two years of his contract.
In seven NBA seasons, Novak has averaged 5.3 points while shooting 43.3 percent from beyond the arc. He has three years remaining on a deal that will pay him $10.9 million.
Camby, the second overall pick by the Raptors in the 1996 NBA Draft, returns to Toronto with two years remaining on a contract that will pay him $7.6 million.
Since Ujiri took over as general manager of the Raptors he has remained mum about future plans for the franchise. With the option to strip the team and rebuild or try to add onto the team as assembled by Colangelo, the move to part ways with Bargnani signifies the end of an era steeped in disappointment.
