Nuggets Rumors: Danilo Gallinari seeking ‘Chandler Parsons-type’ deal
By Tom West
Denver Nuggets forward Danilo Gallinari is after a “Chandler Parsons-type” contract in NBA free agency this summer, seeking a massive four-year deal.
Danilo Gallinari could very well be leaving the Denver Nuggets this summer, and early rumors from the start of NBA free agency only support that. He wants a big contract and plenty of teams will have interest.
Sean Deveney of Sporting News has reported that Gallinari is after a “Plan A-type price tag,” and provided a comment from one NBA executive who believes Gallinari is looking for Chandler Parsons-type money:
"According to NBA front-office executives, when free agency hits at the crack of Saturday morning, Gallinari will be seeking something in the range of a nine-figure payday over four years.“From what we understand, he is looking for something similar to Parsons, a Chandler Parsons-type contract” one GM told Sporting News last week. “There is a lot of risk there, but that’s where the market is. Get past those first few free agents, and he is going to be next in line pretty quick.”"
If you’ve forgotten what the Memphis Grizzlies forked out to the injury-ridden Parsons last summer, they signed him to a four-year, $94 million contract. Seeing as he hasn’t been able to get healthy after dealing with so many knee issues and had a terrible season in 2016-17 — falling a long way to career-lows of 6.2 points per game, 33.8 percent shooting and a 7.7 PER — it’s safe to say the contract is looking pretty horrible right now.
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Gallinari has had injury issues of his own before (including two ACL surgeries on his left knee) and has played in 63 games or less in each of the last three seasons. Nevertheless, he’s in a far better state than Parsons. Gallinari holds a lot of value as a 6’10” scorer who can play at either forward spot, coming off a strong season in 2016-17 with an average of 18.2 points per game to go along with a 38.9 percent 3-point shot and a solid 5.5 made free throws (at a 90.2 percent clip).
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He can spot up outside, drive, and get to the line, all of which could help a host of offenses around the league. Unsurprisingly, USA Today’s Sam Amick reported on Friday that nine teams are interested, while the LA Clippers are set to meet Gallinari on Sunday, per Brad Turner of the Los Angeles Times. After they agreed to re-sign Blake Griffin on a five-year, $173 million deal, that’ll probably be an intriguing destination for Gallinari.
Ultimately, Gallinari is going to get a lot of money somewhere. It may not be for the max, though, as ESPN’s Zach Lowe pointed out in his free agency preview. “A year ago, it was almost unanimous among executives that someone would lavish Millsap a four-year max deal,” wrote Lowe. “People once muttered the same about Serge Ibaka and even Danilo Gallinari, but the market for both has cooled to the $20 million range, sources say.”
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The Nuggets are looking for upgrades, but if they want to keep Gallinari, he could easily command around $80 million over four years with all the competing teams that are interested.