Should Danilo Gallinari Be A Part Of The Nuggets Future?
By Chris Kirby
Since the beginning of March, Danilo Gallinari has looked like an entirely different player. He was seldom-used under former coach Brian Shaw’s watch, but now he is looking more like the player that Denver Nuggets fans remember from 2013 — making headlines because of his play, not his injuries.
Gallinari scored a career-high 40 points last night, in a blowout win over the Orlando Magic. He hit six of his 13 three-point attempts, and filled up the box score across the board (seven rebounds, four assists, three steals and two blocks).
His big game was one of many this month, after he struggled to find his shot (and minutes) during the first few months of the season. He is averaging 19.2 points, 4.9 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.2 steals per-game this month, with most of those games coming within interim coach Melvin Hunt’s ball-movement system.
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Granted, he was coming off of the bench until the February 19th trade deadline. The trade of Arron Afflalo to the Portland Trailblazers allowed Gallinari to reclaim a spot in the starting lineup. Shortly thereafter, Shaw was dismissed in favor of Hunt, instantly boosting the offense’s flow.
Gallinari has always been a great shooter, with great size for his position. He is great at drawing fouls off of jumpshots, and he can catch fire in an instant. His skill set has never been questioned, it’s been a matter of whether or not he can stay on the floor.
He has a history with a number of injuries, including a chip fracture in his foot (2012), a torn ACL (2013), and a torn meniscus (2014). The ACL injury caused Gallinari to miss the entire 2013-14 season, while the meniscus injury was the reason he missed 15 games earlier this season.
Now that he’s healthy (and starting), he is beginning to look more like the player that helped lead the Nuggets to the third seed in the 2013 Playoffs. When the Nuggets traded Carmelo Anthony to the New York Knicks in 2011, they envisioned Gallinari stretching defenses with his great perimeter shooting — not stretching his bum knee on the bench.
Nuggets general manager Tim Connelly is going to have to make a number of tough decisions this summer, once the season concludes. The Nuggets head coaching job will be the number-one priority, since they have to decide whether to offer Hunt the job full-time, or to sign another coach off of the open market. Once he makes a decision on a head coach, Connelly will need to figure out how to fit the personnel to the coach’s system.
For the sake of this argument, let’s say that Connelly makes the smart choice, and he brings Hunt back next season. It is apparent that Gallinari fits Hunt’s system, and he could be a useful piece moving forward. Would they be wise to hold on to him, or should they try and package his brittle body in a trade so they can upgrade at another position?
The Nuggets signed Gallo to a $42 million contract extension back in 2012, and he is currently in the third year of that deal. Next season, he will have a $12.56 million expiring contract on the books — an asset that gains more value by the day, as you approach the trade deadline.
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Every season, a number of expiring contracts are dealt in trades for solid rotation players. If you can find a team that is trying to shed payroll in a hurry (in a lost season), you can unload expiring contract on them for a good player (or possibly a star) signed for the long-term. When you factor in that Gallinari has some game, he isn’t your average expiring contract trade chip. He will garner some interest next February.
If the Nuggets are smart, they will shop Gallinari in multiple deals this summer, but they shouldn’t take anything for him just because he’s injury-prone. The only way you deal him is if it’s a no-brainer, “Let me call [NBA Commissioner] Adam Silver right now, before this guy changes his mind”-type trade. Otherwise, stand pat and let Gallinari play in the system (while gaining more value) until February arrives. There will be some nice options when the trade deadline comes — that’s when the Nuggets will find their future rotation player.
They could always take the gamble and re-sign Gallinari when his contract expires, but why would you risk another $40 million on a player that has missed over 200 games in his six-year career?
It’s been nice to see Gallinari playing so well, but Tim Connelly is going to be forced to decide on a direction to take this team in. More likely than not, Gallo will end up on the injury report for another extended period of time in the future. Now that he is about to enter the final year of his contract, it will be up to Connelly to use him to the Nuggets advantage — on and off the court.