NBA Trade Deadline 2013: Warriors and Cavaliers Interested in Andrea Bargnani?

Another day, another Andrea Bargnani rumor.

Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun, writing from NBA All-Star Weekend in Houston, reports that the Toronto Raptors have been receiving inquiries from the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers regarding Andrea Bargnani.

Immediately Toronto Raptors fans will be wondering whether Canadian star power forward Tristan Thompson would be included in a deal for Bargnani, but I severely doubt it.

A few deals that come to mind include, from the Warriors, Andris Biedrins or Richard Jefferson paired with their lottery-protected first-round pick this season. What makes this interesting is the pair's contracts expire next season, as opposed to Bargnani, whose contract expires the season following next.

As for the Cavaliers, expect more of a two-for-one or three-for-one kind of deal.

A few players that fit into the mold here are Daniel Gibson, Marresse Speights and Omri Casspi, all players that could fit right into the Raptors rotation. Another player that might interest the Raptors is Luke Walton, whose contract expires at the end of the season.

Bargnani this season hasn't been doing himself any favors to help stop some of these constant trade rumors, as he's been relatively ineffective all year, with or without Rudy Gay on the team. Whether it's been a bad elbow, sore wrist, headache or runny nose, Bargnani hasn't shown his durability the last few seasons, and teams are treading carefully exploring the Bargnani market.

Will any team give up a decent pick or prospect for Bargnani? Probably not. Will any team give up a starter for Bargnani, as the Grizzlies did for Ed Davis? Again, probably not.

Raptors fans will have to realize that if they trade Bargnani right now, they will likely not get any value for him whatsoever.

If the Raptors hold on to him, which I think they should do, they could probably get more value in the offseason. At that time, everyone in the Raptors organization hopes that Bargnani can return to his 2010-11 form, in which he averaged a career high 21.4 points a game on 45-percent shooting from the floor.

The countdown to the trade deadline is on, and for Bargnani, the deadline can't come soon enough.