The Andrea Bargnani conundrum
 

Trade him or keep him: the Andrea Bargnani conundrum: http://ow.ly/fET4R

I enjoyed the article but would have liked to have seen a comparison of Dirk's first few years in the league compared to Bargnani's. Personally I don't care for the guy, but he could turn out great. As I mentioned in your thread the other day (yesterday?) I think the Jazz would make great trade partners for the Raptors, especially if Bargnani can play some SF (ala Anderson when the Brow returns). Millsap and Jefferson both have expiring contracts, Kanter and Favors are knocking on the door. In fact, Favors is forcing himself through the door. Mo is better as a scoring guard (ala for Cleveland when Lebron was the primary ball handler), and so theoretically both Calderon and Bargnani could fit nicely on the Jazz. Millsap would fit great on the Raps, and Al Jeff sorta looks like KRS-One.


Edit: don't see Pau coming to the Raptors. Dwight will get games off, Pau will slide to C, Jamison will start at PF for those games. Lakers time is now, no way they trade Pau for Toronto's question marks.

Solid reply and analysis. Food for thought.

teach him how to skate and put him on a line with kessel.

Bang on here.

Bargs just needs to be given a role that his strengths suit. His defense is painful to watch and he throws up a lot of stinkers, but when his shot is on he can be the game changer (although the same can be said for many players). I think the biggest problem is that since he's a true 7 footer we assume he should be prolific at blocks and rebounds but that clearly isn't the case. I know he certainly does not fit within Casey's model of an aggressive defense, but right now I don't think you'll ever receive his true value in a trade return. I can see him being run out of town and traded for pennies on the dollar, only to shine in another market where the coach can employ a system that really brings out his best.

I don't buy any of this "we need to find a system that works for him" stuff. This guy's biggest problem is bringing it every night. He's been through 3 different types of coaches and with each one of them, he ends up the same. . . nowhere. He just doesn't care, I don't care what system you put in place for him, until he starts caring and giving his all every night, it doesn't matter the system. What did he get on Friday, 4 points and 2 rebounds against Phoenix? Phoenix for frigs sake.

I don't deny the talent, he's got plenty of it as seen early on but something happened since then (maybe the contract extension, the broken nose, etc.) that just killed the desire he had. He has the ability to make so many players look silly, yet without fail, it always ends up being him looking silly.

If he becomes a star somewhere else, so be it, but I really think they got to rid themselves of his attitude.

Mr Primo is an interesting case. The expectations of this guy are way too high. If Bosh wasn't even a number one guy (clearly) why do we expect Bargnani to be? He is at best a #2/3 guy on another team and that would be a role in which he succeeds.

What grinds my gears about this guy is that at 7 feet, you should be able to do some work on the boards and collect more than 4 rebounds a night. Or for the love of God play some D! Add to the fact that he's clearly out of shape (too much Primo?) and the Raptors are not very good, the raptors would be lucky to get anything in return for this guy.

This is where I lose faith in him. How can he not grab 8+ boards per game with the minutes he plays??? I mean he does find himself around the basket a lot when defending against other bigs. Seems to me like he just doesn't want to give it the extra effort to go get the ball.

To me he's more of a 6th man than a true starter on a strong team.

There is no "seems to". He just doesn't give the effort, there is no if and or buts about it. He's very happy to just watch other guys grab the boards, even if there's a chance the other team could get it. You watch valanciunas play and he fights for boards like he NEEDS to get it. Good luck trying to find bargnani doing that.