The many reasons Toronto re-signed Andrea Bargnani

July 08 09

Breaking news mixed with analysis …

Their News: "A new core is quickly taking shape for the Toronto Raptors, who locked up centre Andrea Bargnani to a US$50-million, five-year deal Wednesday and are close to finalizing a contract with free agent forward Hedo Turkolgu." (TSN.ca)

Our Very Quick Analysis: I call this the ‘Cover Your Back’ move.

Toronto’s front office is protecting itself in two ways by inking Andrea Bargnani to a lucrative, long-term extension well before his rookie contract expires. First, GM Bryan Colangelo continues to back his first overall pick from the 2006 Draft. And second, the organization has options if Chris Bosh leaves next summer via free agency.

Part of this is political. Colangelo hedged his bets on the lanky Italian, a player he drafted with the top selection three years ago instead of Portland’s Brandon Roy. Remember, this support contributed to the club trading Jermaine O’Neal to Miami. Fair or not, Bargnani will always get every opportunity to succeed by the powers that be in Toronto.

Part of this is about insurance. Bosh, the Raptors’ current franchise face, seems hesitant to sign an extension and commit long-term to the T-Dot. If the four-man heads south next July as part of the great free agent chase of 2010, Toronto has a solid replacement in Bargnani, who feels comfortable sliding over to power forward.

Part of this is also fair. Under interim Coach Jay Triano, Bargnani started stretching defenses with his outside range, while also attacking the basket aggressively. Most importantly, after a tough second year, he finally enjoyed playing, posting respectable numbers of fifteen points and five rebounds per night.

Many factors contributed to the Raptors re-upping with Bargnani. In a rough economy, with the salary cap declining significantly in 2010, the club may have overpaid. Then again, with Bosh set to leave and Colangelo’s own reputation at stake, what choice did the former Executive of the Year have?

Why do you think Toronto re-signed Bargnani? Did the club overpay? Get at us with thoughts in the comment box below and come back to HoopsVibe The Blog for more NBA tidbits. Photo courtesy of matteoartizzu.

8 Comments: The many reasons Toronto re-signed Andrea Bargnani

Posted by
Raptors-Fan
on 07.10.2009

10 mill a year overpaid? I was slightly shocked when I heard Barg’s resigned for that much. Compare him to some of the other players in the leauge making 10 million. I still have faith in Bargnani. Francly, this was a bargain. If Bargnani improves even more next, which I feel he will, do you think BC could have locked him up long term for 10 mill? Probably not. The BC of old is resurfacing. .

Posted by

on 07.9.2009

an interesting move .

Posted by
ritallin
on 07.9.2009

They didn’t overpay for Bargnani. In two years when he’s killing people at $10 million per, people will look back and realize the move to lock him in now was genius. Besides, he’s a center, and guys in that position always make good money even if they’re not that terrific (Rasho, Dampier and Gortat instantly spring to mind, but there are many more examples). Bargs has learned to be aggressive to the hoop, can shoot outside jumpers, has the NBA record for most consecutive games by a center with multiple 3-pt makes, and is improving on defense. That makes him better than 75% of the guys in this league at any position. Pay him his money, and the Raptors should keep going with the rebuild. .

Posted by
T-dot
on 07.9.2009

A great signing. I love it. Go RAPS .

Posted by
O.Sandor
on 07.8.2009

Hi all, thanks for commenting. Good points all around. Snika, I agree. The Raps may have overpaid, but when taking into account Colangelo’s situation, Bosh’s status, AB’s second half, and Toronto’s history of losing top players, perhaps it’s worth the extra money. MLSE, who owns the Raps, prints cash with their other sport’s properties. Thanks for commenting and reading. .

Posted by
Snika
on 07.8.2009

The number is a little steep, but here is why the long term part was smart. This team has time and time again lost all-stars based solely on geographical reasons. Ink an international player that might not care about that while he’s young, and has high potential talent. He ain’t there yet, but he should be fun to watch in a couple years. Okur isn’t really a great comparison... I would say a more balanced, but watered-down version of Dirk. .

Posted by
Dan
on 07.8.2009

Seems like a pretty good move provided he keeps up with the numbers he had last 40 games of 08-09 season. Of course, if he improves his defense and rebounding (which is to be expected) - things are looking good. Some people think that he will be Okur 2.0 - but I think he has got potential to be much better than that. .

Posted by
Northern Touch
on 07.8.2009

I Think it was a great deal for them. They guy was a stud the last half of last season and we knew when he was drafted he was going to be a long term project. If He continues improving he will be great value at 10 million a year. Over the second half of the season he averaged - 19 PPG 5.5 Rebs 1.7 Blks and shoots better than 50/80/40. There are plenty of players making 10 million or more that don’t give you those numbers. .

Post your comment:

No profanity or inaproppriate remarks. All i.p. addresses will be saved and abuse/hate posts will be reported to providers and authorities as part of the anti-spam act of 2003, thank you for posting comments on the articles only.

	About Oly Sandor
Daily take on NBA Oly Sandor is an NBA analyst and sports journalist based out of Vancouver, Canada.After years of the free-lance game, Oly Sandor is bringing his unique brand of NBA analysis exclusively to (...) More

The many reasons Toronto re-signed Andrea Bargnani

AboutOly Sandor

About
Oly Sandor