Andrea Bargnani uncertain for Nets' season opener

Andrea Bargnani remains day-to-day with a tight hamstring, an injury that has continued to linger and cost him the entirety of his first preseason with the Brooklyn Nets.

Bargnani was able to participate in non-contact portions of practice Wednesday but would not commit to being ready for the team's season opener on Oct. 28.

It's a frustrating beginning to Bargnani's tenure in Brooklyn. Nets fans have already been treated to most of "The Andrea Bargnani Experience," and the regular season hasn't even started yet.

First there was the signing, met with scoffs from around the league but optimism out of Brooklyn that a fresh start would be a nice reset for the former No. 1 pick. Next, there was the first injury scare, an ankle tweak in EuroBasket exhibition play that required an MRI. Then, a more legitimate injury: A flare-up of the injured calf that had sidelined him last season during EuroBasket.

And now, of course, there's the mysterious flare-up of a tight hamstring that has rendered Il Mago day to day through the entire preseason, despite an MRI coming back clean.

This latest string of injuries has seemed to mirror what Bargnani's become as a player over the last several seasons. While he still occasionally entices with his shooting for a 7-footer - and yes, it returned some last year - and flashes of competent offensive play and tolerable man-to-man post defense, even strong performances now come with the specter of impending injury. He hasn't appeared in more than 42 games in a season since 2010-11, and has missed an average of 38.2 games over the last five years.

As nice as a fresh start may have been for Bargnani, this is as inauspicious a start as one can really have. He's had exactly zero on-court action with his new team, leaving head coach Lionel Hollins to figure out his frontcourt rotation on the fly when the Italian returns. Bargnani still figures to see time as the Nets' primary backup center, but he may well come up shy of the 27.1 minutes he averaged in 29 games with the New York Knicks a season ago.

In those 27.1 minutes last year, Bargnani averaged 14.8 points and 4.4 rebounds, while shooting 45.4 percent from the floor and 36.6 percent from long-range.