Andrea Bargnani opts-in to New York Knicks contract

There was essentially nobody who believed that Andrea Bargnani would opt-out of his contract with the New York Knicks, outside of maybe a few wishful thinking fans. But their hearts are set to be broken after the former No. 1 pick decided to exercise the final year of his contract which will pay him upwards of $11.5 million dollars this coming season.

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Many were miffed when the Knicks decided to take a chance on Bargnani who has never come close to fulfilling the promise of his top selection, let alone doing so given his relatively awful contract. Yet, the New York Knicks seeing the potential for promise decided to take a risk and are now stuck on the hook for the final year of his deal.

Of course, it’s not all bad news as while Bargnani certainly puts a dent into the Knicks potential free agent plans, he does become somewhat of an attractive trade piece come the February deadline. No, it doesn’t appear as if expiring contracts hold the same type of value that they did in the NBA’s previous Collective Bargaining Agreement, but they still have some value and a near $12 million dollar expiring may be able to net the Knicks something of value in the coming months.

For now however, it appears fans in the Big Apple will be subjected to Bargnani’s woeful defense and injury prone self until the New York Knicks can hopefully get around to trading him and his contract.

Bargnani is coming off a season where he averaged 13 points and 5.5 rebounds.