There was a time when Andre Bargnani was a feared offensive machine but with injuries hounding him for the past two years, the Italian has become one of the forgotten players in the NBA.
His best years of course came when he was with the Toronto Raptors. Especially when Chris Bosh left the team to join the Miami Heat in 2010, Bargnani found himself as the focal point of the Raptors offense.
He would be the franchise's go-to-guy until 2013 where his injury woes started to crop up. He incurred an elbow injury which ultimately ended his season that year.
But that would be his last in a Raptors uniform when he found himself traded to the Knicks in a multiplayer trade in 2013-14. Despite coming off an injury, there were high expectations for the Italian forward when he landed in New York.
However as fate would have it, Bargnani would end up playing only 71 games in two seasons. Bargnani suffered injuries one after the other and never really got the chance to regain his old form.
And now he is hopeful that he can finally play 100% healthy with the Nets though he may have a little trouble in getting minutes. With Brook Lopez and Thaddeus Young at the focal point of the big man position, it may be wise for Bargnani to recall his outside shooting.
Being a big man that can hit it from outside was apparently one of the reasons why he was signed up by the Nets and Bargnani perhaps knows that this is the way to go.
He was actually offered a more lucrative deal by the Kings though he opted for a minimum salary of $1,400 instead. According to Bargnani, money is not a problem at this stage of his career and all he is aiming for is to prove that he can still play.
In fact in a translated interview by NetsDaily, he says that he would have played for free just to prove himself with the Nets. Whether those claims were true or not remains to be seen but the important thing is that he keeps himself healthy to be able to prove that he still has it.
