Andrea Bargnani: Raising the Bar

When the Raptors drafted Andrea Bargnani, they probably envisioned a player who would one day score in the 20s and stretch defenses with his long-range game. Or so we thought.

It may be entirely possible that if that was the ceiling Colangelo had seen, he would have very well dealt the struggling Bargnani as the offers started to fill his mail box. He didn't budge. After Bargnani's horrendous 2007-2008 campaign, he said, "I'm still a huge Andrea Bargnani fan."

This season, we all started to see what some Italian fans had already seen glimpses of in terms of Bargnani's overall game. Some are calling him among the elite centers in the league defensively.

That might be pushing it, but I could see him as one of the 10 to 12 best ones. The way he's handled the Yao Ming's and Tim Duncan's in certain spurts is very encouraging.

Some might even say his defense is ahead of his offense, and his offense is actually fairly above league average. So what do you have?

What exactly does Colangelo mean when he says that, "We still made the right pick," as Brandon Roy and Rudy Gay tear up the league as franchise players? You have a No. 1 overall pick.

One might argue that there is something about that first overall pick. Unless it's a Kenyon Martin year, the general rule is you go for a rare talent whom you hope becomes more than simply a franchise player.

Think of Yao Ming, LeBron James, Derrick Rose, Greg Oden, Dwight Howard, Tim Duncan, David Robinson, Shaq, Hakeem, and the list goes on and on. What these players have in common is that you can't find a player like them in every draft, or even in every 10 drafts.

For instance, Howard and Shaq are comparable, and they were drafted more than 12 years apart. Robinson and Oden are similar, and they were picked almost 20 years apart. Who was LeBron James being compared to? Magic Johnson? Oscar Robertson.

Much like that, you don't find a player with Andrea's skill-set in every draft either, or in every 10 drafts. You can find a big who shoots from the outside in almost every draft. In every second draft, one of them is even worthy of starting.

To have a player who shoots so well from the outside, is a legitimate seven-footer with a 260-pound base, is an excellent passer, can play three positions, blocks nearly two shots per game, has the defensive ability at times to play three positions, is hard-working, and is coach-able is just special.

People have dropped the bar so low for Bargnani due to incorrect scouting reports, or his poor play, that some were willing to trade him for pennies just one month ago. Patience.

So again, what is Andrea Bargnani capable of being? He's capable of being more than simply an All-Star. He's capable of being a once in ten year type talent. He's got that potential.

Sure, ideally people would prefer he simple become a 15/10 guy and become Bosh's running mate. The truth, however, is that if the Raptors want to go anywhere soon, it'll likely be on the abilities of No. 7.

He's got the two key ingredients that every great player truly has. He makes his teammates better, and he plays both ends of the court. Those are two things the Raptors have been waiting to see from Bosh for ages.

Bargnani isn't done developing offensively at just 23, and he certainly has nothing stopping him from becoming a good rebounder. So just how rare is Bargnani? I said on the RealGM forums when he was drafted that he would be closer to Hakeem than he would be to Dirk and got quite a lot of heat for it.

I still stick by it, but I'd say that his package mirrors that of a young, more perimeter -oriented Arvydas Sabonis and if he can simply pick up the rebounding a bit, he's not too far off. That would make him a once in two decades type talent. Wouldn't it?