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5 worst draft mistakes in Toronto Raptors franchise history

By Avishai Sol

NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 20: Andrea Bargnani #7 of the Toronto Raptors looks on during warm ups against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden on March 20, 2012 in New York City. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Chris Chambers/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 20: Andrea Bargnani #7 of the Toronto Raptors looks on during warm ups against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden on March 20, 2012 in New York City. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Chris Chambers/Getty Images) /
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Andrea Bargnani, Toronto Raptors
NEW YORK, NY – JANUARY 02: (NEW YORK DAILIES OUT) Andrea Bargnani #7 of the Toronto Raptors (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images) /

2006 NBA Draft:  Andrea Bargnani (No. 1 Pick)

This is the big one.

Raptors fans’ opinions on Andrea Bargnani vary from disgust to stingy defense of the man the team took first overall in 2006.

A draft that was thought to be stacked at the time, years removed we see the busts (Adam Morrison, Tyrus Thomas), the disappointments (Brandon Roy), and the team that looked LaMarcus Aldridge full in the face and said “nah, we’ll take Bargnani.”

Let’s make one thing crystal clear; Bargnani is not a bust.

Anyone who averaged 20+ points a game over the course of an NBA season has had a decent enough career to avoid that most painful of dubbings, but when you’re taken first overall and submit the career he did, you can’t help but shake your head at what could have been.

Andrea Bargnani never lived up to the hype.

Aldridge was a can’t miss prospect after his sophomore year at Texas, averaging a cool 15 and 9 on 56% shooting, and boasting all the tools of an elite NBA big. Imagine having Aldridge in the frontcourt throughout the Bosh years instead of Rasho Nesterovic, Reggie Evans, and an old Jermaine O’Neal.

Maybe Bosh stays past 2009 with the extra help up front? Maybe he still leaves and DeRozan has a running mate early in his career. Either way, the team is in better shape with Aldridge on it than not.

This pick is the perfect example of getting too cute with the intriguing mystery prospect. Bargnani was this 7-foot stretch-big a time when everyone was searching for the next Dirk (in a lot of ways we still are). As soon as the potential for a foreign steal cropped up, forget the no-brainer sophomore from Texas, it’s Bargnani all the way.

That there is a flaw that Masai Ujiri does not possess. His knowledge of the foreign basketball scene might literally be second to none. If he gets a powerful pick up top, you know he’s using it on one of the five players draft heads have been cooing about for months.

I love Vrenz Bleijenburgh as much as the next guy, but still.