Andrea Bargnani became the latest free agent to turn down the Sacramento Kings this summer, agreeing to a two-year deal at the veterans minimum with the Brooklyn Nets instead Sunday.
#Nets have reached an agreement in principle with free agent F/C Andrea Bargnani, GM Billy King announced today.
— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) July 12, 2015
Glad to join the @BrooklynNets. I'm ready for this new challange.
La nuova sfida ha un nome: Brooklyn Nets. Pronto ad accoglierla con voi.
— Andrea Bargnani (@AndreaBargnani) July 13, 2015
The Kings reportedly offered more money to the former No. 1 draft pick, but he opted to stay in the New York area.
Bargnani, 29, is coming off an injury-riddled season with the Knicks, but showed flashes late in the year and finished with averages of 14.8 points, 4.4 rebounds and made 36.6 percent of his 3-point attempts.
Per ESPN:
The Brooklyn Nets have swooped in to sign former No. 1 overall pick Andrea Bargnani, swiping him away at the 11th hour from the Sacramento Kings. […] Brooklyn’s $1.4 million flyer on Andrea Bargnani has the potential for high reward and gives the Nets some veteran insurance behind Brook Lopez.
Sources said the Kings were actually offering more money over the next two seasons than Brooklyn, but Bargnani preferred the fit with the Nets and opted for a two-year veterans minimum deal that includes a player option to return to free agency after the coming season.
Overall, though, Bargnani didn’t meet expectations during his two seasons as a Knick. He played in just 71 of a possible 164 games after arriving in a 2013 trade with the Toronto Raptors for Marcus Camby, Steve Novak, a 2016 first-round pick and two second-round picks.
