The New York Knicks have acquired forward Andrea Bargnani from the Toronto Raptors in a trade in exchange for Marcus Camby, Steve Novak, a future first round draft pick, and two second round draft picks (www.espn.com).
The trade will not be official until July 10th and because the trade had been announced and had not yet cleared league approval, the trade has been revised. On July 1st the new salary cap and salary contract years began in the NBA, so Bargnani had an increase in salary and Camby and Novak both had their salaries decrease according to New York Newsday. In that same report on July 1st, it was explained that Quentin Richardson would be added to the trade because the salary numbers in the NBA have to match up on both sides of a proposed trade.
Bargnani – Talent in need of a change
Andrea Bargnani is a very talented player who was drafted 1st overall in the 2006 NBA Draft (www.nba.com). He is 27 years old and will turn 28 on October 26, and I think he still has some good years left in his career. It is not like you are getting a guy that is 30+ years old.
Bargnani had an elbow injury and missed 47 games last season, and when he did play it lead to questions from the fans in Toronto as well as the executives throughout the league about how much he really wanted to play. According to scouting reports, he looked at points like he no longer cared, but that could also be due to the fact that Toronto is a terrible team.
In the end, Bargnani finished last season averaging 12.7 points per game on 40% shooting, and his career numbers are 15.3 points per game on 43.7% shooting (www.espn.com).
This move was also made based on timing, the Knicks need another front court player, particularly with the teams’ announcement of the minutes restrictions on Amare Stoudemire. The financial side of the deal is important too from a business and salary cap perspective. According to ESPN, Bargnani is owed $23 million on the last two years of his contract, which means he will be a free agent heading into the same summer as fellow Knicks players Carmelo Anthony, Tyson Chandler, and Stoudemire.
All of these large contracts coming off the books at the same time is going to create a situation where the Knicks will have an incredible amount of salary cap flexibility. The Knicks could essentially re-sign Carmelo Anthony if they choose and then revamp the entire roster around him adding 2 or 3 star “max contract” type players to the roster.
In the meantime, Bargnani will help this team. I also believe that he needs a change of scenery. Some athletes do, and sports fans have seen that happen with other star athletes in the past, across every major sport. I think he was tired of the Raptors never competing or having even a chance at the playoffs, and the fan base in Toronto was tired of him. I think New York will be a fresh start, and for an Italian born player it does not get much better than playing and living in New York City.
Bargnani’s contribution – a tactical perspective
Andrea Bargnani brings to the Knicks a unique skill set in that he is a big front court player (7 feet tall) but he has a good outside shot. He can shoot 3 point field goals, but he can also put the ball on the floor and drive to the basket. His outside shooting is such a threat that he will help space the floor for Carmelo Anthony and the recently re-signed J.R. Smith to slash and drive the ball to the hoop.
I think he is a very good fit for the Knicks and will fill an important role for them in the front court. Bargnani does not rebound the ball well, he needs to work on his defense, and his passing skills are average. However, I think Coach Woodson and the Knicks coaching staff is very good at helping players and that they will foster improvement in some of these deficient areas, especially on the defensive end.
The trade was a good one, in my view as a fan of the Knicks, mostly because they got a player I always thought was a talented player stuck on a bad team. The Knicks gave up a potentially valuable 1st round pick but the other players all had issues meshing into the Knicks system. Marcus Camby was a bad contract for the Knicks too because he still has 2 years left on the deal and he is pushing 40 years old.
I read some other reports in the media that Camby was very upset with the trade and the Raptors are trying to trade him to a contending team. His contract may make that a difficult move at this point. Steve Novak, for those who have read my blog, you know I am not and never have been a Novak fan. I thought he was overpaid and had a limited skill set.
I can’t shoot an NBA three pointer as consistently as he can, the issue is that is all Novak can do. His defense is average and he was not a good rebounder for a 6 foot 10 inch guy. Quentin Richardson was a late addition to the team and barely played last season, so they are not giving up much there either, though his veteran presence and his great personality will help the Raptors locker room.
The Knicks now can move past the J.R. Smith deal, now that it is done, and focus on rounding out the roster with signing Pablo Prigioni, and either Elton Brand or Kenyon Martin. Though other sports reporters on social media have told me that the Knicks front office has something else potentially big they are working on. That translates into: Knicks fans stay tuned.