The Nets have waived Andrea Bargnani, the team announced via press release. The sides were in buyout talks, as Marc Stein of ESPN.com reported earlier today, so it would seem the former No. 1 overall pick has agreed to give back part of his salary. Bargnani signed a two-year, minimum salary contract this past summer that was to give him $1,362,897 this season with a player option worth $1,551,659 for next year.
The sides have appeared headed for a buyout for the past few days, with Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports reporting this week that a buyout was almost certain to happen if the Nets didn’t trade Bargnani by Thursday’s deadline. The 30-year-old Bargnani’s 6.6 points and 13.8 minutes per game are career lows by a wide margin, though he recorded a season-high 25 minutes in an 18-point performance against the Pistons less than three weeks ago, on February 1st.
He’ll be postseason-eligible for any team he might sign with if he clears waivers. He’s also a candidate for a waiver claim, since all 29 teams are eligible to snag him, as Bobby Marks of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports points out (on Twitter).
I wonder if he could be a possibility for the Wizards. We need big man depth. Nene is due to aggravate something soon dare I say.