Bargnani Wants You to Know He's Figured it Out

Hi, my name is Andrea Bargnani. I went first overall to the Raptors in the 2006 draft, ahead of LaMarcus Aldridge, Brandon Roy, Rudy Gay, and Rajon Rondo. Not exactly a Darko or Kwame Brown, but I was picked by boy genius Bryan Colangelo to signal the franchise's new direction. If Toronto didn't think I'd be a superstar -- and given how weak that draft class was perceived to be at the time, there wasn't that pressure -- I was at least expected to contribute in ways that made Colangelo look like a visionary.

That hasn't quite happened. I've shown flashes, but have been sliding ever closer toward the abyss of bust-dom, especially as Roy and those other dudes continue to improve. When the Raptors acquired Jermaine O'Neal to play alongside Chris Bosh, it looked like my window was closing. True, I'm comfortable at either forward slot, or even center. Still, as this season started, I sure seemed like the odd man out of the nucleus, if not an afterthought on the bench.

Then a funny thing happened: I finally figured it out. When O'Neal went down earlier this season, I responded with a couple of monster games. There were some stinkers in there, too, but it was the closest I've come yet to sustained production. Now, JO's been out since 2009 got started, and I've been on a friggin' tear for nine games. We're talking Baby Dirk numbers. I'll let the Globe and Mail tell you about it:

In the nine games Bargnani has started at centre in place of O'Neal, he's averaged 22.3 points a game, 7.1 rebounds and 1.3 blocks, while shooting 55.7 per cent from the floor and a sizzling 57.8 per cent from three-point land.

All of which puts my man Jermaine in an awkward spot. He was brought in to put this team over the top, and instead, he's holding back yours truly in the midst of a disappointing season. For what it's worth, dude's taking it all in stride. He's fine coming off the bench, and if it comes to a trade, there wouldn't be any hard feelings:

"If I was to get traded, God bless 'em. I have a really good agent in Arn Tellum and he keeps me aware of what teams are trying to acquire me. ... And [Raptors president] Bryan Colangelo? He's my man. We have a very friendly relationship and I respect his view."

Time will only tell just how many teams want O'Neal, and his contract, after his less-than-stellar showing so far this year. After all, he does make over $20 million a season. But wait, that mammoth contract of his lets up in ... 2010, which suddenly makes him quite the hot commodity, if a team's willing to swallow that salary. It would be somewhere between picking up the man as pure negative cash, and the rental program Allen Iverson and the Pistons have currently gotten themselves into. So even if things don't work out with the big guy here in Toronto, he's got options. I'm just hoping that I won't have to look over my shoulder one bit, since obviously my performance has a lot to do with confidence issues.

This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.