NBA Draft: Every team’s least popular pick ever

Toronto Raptors – Andrea Bargnani (2006)

Coming into the 2006 NBA Draft, the best American prospect was quite clearly the big talented forward from the Texas Longhorns in LaMarcus Aldridge. He’d already had two big years in burnt orange and his skill set seemed like one destined to make him a star at the next level. The Toronto Raptors had the top pick in that draft, though, and they looked overseas for the top pick. Instead of Aldridge, the Raptors elected to take Andrea Bargnani out of Italy.

When you describe Bargnani through rose-colored glasses, it’s not hard to understand what Toronto saw in him. He’s a player with great size while also having the ability to stretch the floor offensively. If that all had worked out ideally, Bargs could have been a revolutionizing player in the NBA that really changed the way the game is played in the NBA.

Instead, Bargs became a player that couldn’t defend at an eighth grade level, was not really about the life of rebounding against opposing NBA big men, and whose offensive prowess was never as consistent as the Raptors would’ve hoped. It’s one of the great blunders in draft history and Bargnani is a name that lives in infamy in Toronto and beyond.

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