The 7-foot (2.13 m) power forward-center[1] played for Benetton Treviso in the Italian LBA and the EuroLeague before being selected first overall in the 2006 NBA draft by the Toronto Raptors.

Bargnani began his basketball career in 2002–03 with Stella Azzurra Roma in the Italian fourth-tiered league Serie B2, averaging 13.2 points and 4.5 rebounds in 23 games.

[3] Incidentally, Bargnani faced his future team, the Toronto Raptors, on 20 October 2003 in a pre-season game at Air Canada Centre.

In the 2005–06 EuroLeague season, he contributed 10.9 points, 4.1 rebounds and 1.3 steals, while shooting .508 percent from the floor and .434 from three-point range in 18 games.

[2] As a prospect, Bargnani drew many comparisons to German NBA player Dirk Nowitzki, mainly due to his ability to shoot from the perimeter, his mobility despite his size, and his ball-handling skills.

Bargnani made his regular-season debut against the New Jersey Nets on 1 November 2006, posting 2 points, 2 rebounds and 2 blocks in eight minutes of play.

[12] On 21 March 2007, Bargnani underwent emergency appendectomy surgery after being taken to hospital following illness experienced after practice the night before.

[19] However, Toronto did not give up on Bargnani yet and committed the entire summer coaching him to become a more effective interior player, forcing him to drive to the basket more and settle less for jump shots.

[20] He also seemed to rediscover his shooting stroke, had better shot selection and became a consistent shot-blocker, and he was soon moved to the starting line-up as small forward.

[23] O'Neal was then traded to Miami during the All-Star break,[24] allowing the Italian to regain his starting spot for the rest of the season.

He averaged 19.8, 17.9 and 20.3 points per game for January, February and March, respectively,[25] even as Toronto went on several losing streaks and gradually fell out of the playoff race.

Coupled with two separate injuries to Chris Bosh, Toronto slid from the fifth seed to the eighth, and were subsequently locked in a race with Chicago for the final spot.

Toronto's franchise player Chris Bosh opted to leave for Miami as a free agent after his contract with the Raptors was up.

[30] After managing the first 21 games of the season, Bargnani missed the next two months of action with the Raptors following an elbow injury in early December.

[33] On 18 December 2013, in a game at the Milwaukee Bucks, with 20 seconds remaining in overtime in which the Knicks held a two-point lead, Bargnani received an offensive rebound and, instead of dribbling out the clock or getting fouled to go to the free throw line, for reasons only known to him, shot a three-pointer that missed.

[34] On 22 January 2014, in a loss to the Philadelphia 76ers, Bargnani suffered a torn ligament in his left elbow after a failed dunk attempt, and was ruled out indefinitely, eventually missing the rest of the regular season.

After missing most of the preseason with a hamstring injury, Bargnani was set to make his season debut on 22 November when he was ruled out indefinitely again with a strained calf muscle.

[40] He made his debut for the Nets in the team's season opener against the Chicago Bulls on 28 October, recording 17 points and 7 rebounds off the bench in a 115–100 loss.