Nets steal Andrea Bargnani from Kings

The Brooklyn Nets are thieves in the night … or maybe they are the one being taken. Either way, something went down, and the Nets ended up with forward Andrea Bargnani after it was reportedly all but a done deal that Bargnani would wind up with the Sacramento Kings, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.

Bargnani is not going to cost the Nets much, with Tom Bontemps of the New York Post reporting that Bargnani will sign a deal for the veteran’s minimum with a player’s option for a second year. Certainly, this is not anything of a major loss for the Kings, who already have players known for playing solid offensively but absolutely no defense.

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The former first-overall pick of the 2006 NBA Draft, Bargnani was supposed to be a star with the Toronto Raptors. Instead, he was mostly an injury-plagued weapon who didn’t care for defense. Bargnani then played the last two years with the New York Knicks, dealing with more injuries.

In 2013-14, Bargnani played in 42 games while starting in 39. He averaged 13.3 points and 5.3 rebounds per game. Last year, Bargnani battled injuries again and played in 29 games, averaging 14.8 points and 4.4 rebounds per game.

The Nets have not been overly active in free agency, only keeping their players in Brook Lopez and Thaddeus Young on July 1. Brooklyn made the playoffs as an eighth-seed last year and actually took the top-seeded Atlanta Hawks to a sixth game before finally falling. Bargnani gives the Nets a player who can score, especially from the outside to open up space for Lopez to work underneath.