Andrea Bargnani: hasty business by the New York Knicks

Andrea Bargnani: the Italian is headed for New York from Toronto in exchange for three players and three picks. (Getty Images)

The NBA off-season does not shun itself away from limelight. Coaches are fired and new ones are brought to replace them. Players get moved and rookies begin to settle down. All of this makes for exciting cover stories across the media.

A few stories desire greater attention than the rest while some moves raise eyebrows for only the wrong reasons. One story belonging to the latter category is the Andrea Bargnani trade from the Toronto Raptors to the New York Knicks.

While the Knicks could presumptuously think they were being astute in sealing this deal, they could well be kicking themselves in a matter of months.

The New York Knicks are based in downtown Manhattan. This also happens to be the workplace of our friend and Knicks faithful, Joe Baggio. Born and bred in the city of New York, Joe has seen the tumultuous ride of the primary New York franchise in the NBA.

They were playoff perennials when they had Jerry Lucas. Sparks were ignited once again as the Knicks began to terrorise other Eastern Conference rivals to flourish under the tutelage of Pat Riley. But that was in the 90s.

In the early 2000s, Madison Square Garden hit rock bottom as Baggio witnessed the management debacle of Isiah Thomas. From a fabled star in Detroit, Thomas experienced a ‘bombshell’ at New York. His legacy was tainted and so were the Knicks as an organisation.

From a magma that was beginning to displace the Yankees as the city’s most followed, the Knicks threw themselves under the bus by drafting pathetically, trading miserably and spurring wrong judgements in the backroom staff.

Our friend, Baggio, has seen it all. He was heartbroken when he saw his beloved franchise being battered 104-59 by the Boston Celtics in 2007. But smiles began to appear during the tenure of Mike D’Antoni. Then there was the sensation of Jeremy Lin, who stormed the entire city with his clutch shooting.

Last season, the Knicks made it to the second round of the playoffs after finishing as the second best team from the Eastern Conference during the regular season. Baggio was satisfied that the Knicks had improved while the rest complained about the team’s defeat to loathed rivals, the Indiana Pacers.

Baggio sees things differently – one step at a time, that is his philosophy. Does the man with same heritage as the Knicks’ newest addition, Bargnani, see it the same way when the Knicks traded for the centre?

When cross-city rivals are bringing in future Hall-of-Famers and guaranteed successes to the Brooklyn Nets, everyone in Manhattan must be wondering what the Knicks are doing with a man who is best labelled as a “bust” since being drafted number one overall in 2006.

Let us move away from Mr. Baggio to focus on the Knicks as an organisation. In the deal that infuriated many across New York and is now the cynosure of mockery in the NBA, Bargnani is coming to the “Big Apple” in return for a host of future first-round and second round picks.

In an era where every other team is keen on building from scratch through the Draft, the Knicks seem to be doing the opposite. Even the Nets don’t cater to the philosophy of resurrecting through the draft but they at least brought in the likes of Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett. And to match that, the Knicks hastily loaned out the future to bring in a talent that has yet not peaked in the NBA.

Bargnani will team up with Tyson Chandler #6 and Amar’e Stoudemire (not pictured) if he remains in NYC. (Getty Images)

On the other hand, by no means can Bargnani be classified as untalented. He is a proven scorer and can command the floor to make space for his teammates. Of all those first round picks who have failed in the NBA since the onset of this millennium, Bargnani could be amongst the few players to upend his critics’ opinions even now.

While he is rediscovering his shooting touch that saw him average 21.4 PPG, Bargnani’s affluence to a host of injuries has plagued his progress in the NBA. Since then, he has barely had jaws drop. Last season, he chipped in with 12.4 PPG but as has been the trademark of his stay in the league, another injury ended his campaign. The Knicks are gambling heavily on a man who could well be more prominent on the doctor’s table than on the court.

The Knicks can take a few positives from the Bargnani trade. They are letting go of an aging Marcus Camby and sporadic performers in the form of Steve Novak and Quentin Richardson. These players don’t fit in aptly in the rotational Mike Woodson system either.

Getting in Bargnani could see guarantees in the scoring department for Woodson. He can also raffle in the threes to add to his mobility for his size. Furthermore, in 2015, only Raymond Felton and Tim Hardaway Jr. will be players on contract at the Madison Square Garden, meaning the Knicks might have enough cap space to bring in a notable player or two.

Entering the 2006 draft, Bargnani drew comparisons to Dirk Nowitzki because of his ball-handling skills and perimeter shooting which showed promise. But if the Knicks are going to expect anything of that sort from Bargnani, they need to stop dreaming and come back to reality.

Firstly, Bargnani isn’t anywhere as good a defender as the Knicks need right now to plug the leaks. He will be fighting for a spot on the starting line-up with Amar’e Stoudamire, who can be lacklustre on defence himself. Add to that, they have Carmelo Antony, who is in his prime and yet hasn’t figured a way to work on his man marking.

Now, if the Knicks finished last season as one of the worst defensive teams, they aren’t justifying the Bargnani trade by any means. He is not a good rebounder either – laying more groundwork for why everyone in the NBA seems to be mocking this deal. It tots up even further pressure on Tyson Chandler, whose patience to do all of the work in defence will only be tested.

The Knicks start next season without a retired Jason Kidd and Baron Davis, who is in prime retirement shape with his paunch. They could also lose J.R. Smith, Pablo Prigiani and Chris Copeland to free agency.

This raises questions as to why the Knicks aren’t trying to sign players to play point guard, shooting guard or a key rotational player. If there is a problem, shouldn’t the team be trying to tackle that? Instead, why is this team gambling on someone who could well add fuel to fire?

Only Glen Grunwald, the Knicks General Manager, and the rest of management knows why. Adding Bargnani also covers up cap space that could be used to sign players this off-season such as Tony Allen, O.J. Mayo and Monta Ellis.

These players will receive lucrative offers elsewhere – at least twice the amount the trunk loaded Knicks can guarantee. The more we talk about this, the more our friend Baggio, like other Knicks fans, will be banging his head in frustration.

Today, the Knicks are considered an elite team in the NBA. The team has worked hard to reach here after the ill-fated spells in the early 2000s. But by gambling and doing hasty business on deals that won’t help the franchise, they are only doing more harm than good.

While the NBA rosters could be tinkered with in the next couple months, the city of New York will be hoping that the Knicks make more promising purchases than Bargnani in the off-season. They need to ensure they revitalise after a drubbing handed out by the Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals.

By signing Bargnani and letting go of important draft picks, they are only hurtling towards the reverse. If good fortune prevails it could work out but as of now, the consensus is predicting the opposite.

Author’s note: Joe Baggio is a fictional character and just a representation of the fans.