LAS VEGAS — Andrea Bargnani is moving across the river after signing a contract with the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday in what will likely be the Italian’s last attempt at salvaging his NBA career. His two-year run at Madison Square Garden was an abject failure and the repercussions will be felt next June with the Knicks having traded away their 2016 first-round pick for the underachieving forward.
The timing of Bargnani’s departure is appropriate since it comes 24 hours after Kristaps Porzingis, the Knicks’ new international man of mystery, made his impressive rookie summer league debut. Think of it as a trade.