Career: Stella Azzurra Roma (Italy-4th Div. ,2002-2003), Benetton Treviso (Italy-Lega, 2003-06), Toronto Raptors (Canada-NBA, 2006-07). Selected in the first round of the 2006 NBA Draft (#1) by the Toronto Raptors
Bargnani has never played a single game with the National Team at the youth or senior level but then again he had never played a game in the NBA prior to being picked one overall by the Toronto Raptors in the 2006 NBA draft, joining Andrew Bogut and Yao Ming as the only international players to be first overall selections.
A few days before the draft, Bargnani led Benetton to a Lega A Championship, downing Climamio Bologna in the championship series, 3-1. He was also named European Young Player of the Year in 2005-06, while averaging 15.3 points, 7.1 rebounds, 1.7 blocks and 1.8 steals per game. Bargnani will be one of the great attractions at EuroBasket 2007. He will be a media magnet that Italy never had in the past. The Rome native was the runner-up for the NBA Rookie of the Year award after a solid season in Toronto and experienced his first NBA All-Star Weekend in February where he was a consensus All-Rookie First Team member.
Andrea was expected to join the National Team last year in Japan, but he explained that with his upcoming rookie season in the NBA and with the additional pressure of being selected with the first draft pick, joining Italy for the World Championship would be too much for a single summer. Coach Recalcati accepted the player's point of view and told the media: “We are not missing Bargnani, because we never had him in the National Team and you can't miss something you never had.” But Bargnani’s decision created two "parties" inside the Italian media: those who accepted it and those who disagreed. While the Italian press were having that debate, Andrea played in five summer league games with the Raptors, averaging a team-high 13.2 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.0 blocks in 26.2 minutes of playing time per contest.
Coach Recalcati and the President of the Italian Federation Mr. Fausto Maifredi made a couple of trips to Toronto to meet with Bargnani in his first NBA season. During the last trip, Bargnani officially received a National Team jersey with the number seven and his name on the back of it. He has been compared to Dirk Nowitzki because of his height (2.13 m) and his all-around style of play. Bargnani is a perimeter-oriented forward with a terrific first step and an excellent outside shot. He has good foot-work, a soft touch and can run the floor well. He needs to work on his rebounding (something he improved on a lot in the last part of the NBA season) and his post game. On defense, he has great timing as a shot-blocker. Recalcati plans to use him at power forward, but if the coach's final decision is to have a quicker team, without a true center, Bargnani can also be used as a number five. All that remains is to see how he fits in with his new teammates.
