Danilo Gallinari is having a career year. On Wednesday, he helped the Nuggets beat the Warriors by leading them in scoring with 28 and coming through with a clutch steal in the closing moments. He's been Denver's most important player and a borderline star.
Danilo Gallinari’s knee injury made him change his game for the better
The Nuggets’ forward has come all the way back from a devastating knee injury and is becoming the player the team always hoped.
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These are not honors many thought would be possible after he suffered a knee injury that forced him to sit out an entire year. Gallinari suffered a torn ACL at the end of the 2012-13 season, then missed the entire 2013-14 year after his doctor recommended a unique procedure that made things worse. Gallinari had to realize he was never going to be the same player he was before.
But instead of letting that stop him, he decided to simply evolve. The results have been fantastic so far.
The Rooster was never the most explosive athlete, but he was quick enough to get to the rim on drives before the injury. Some of that quickness is gone, which would have doomed a lot of players. To overcome it, Gallinari now relies less on speed and more on will when he tries to get to the hoop. He can’t blow past his defender and explode to the rim, so he figures out which angles to attack and is constantly seeking contact.
Drives like that are common. Gallinari is fouled on 30 percent of his attacks to the basket, the highest percentage of all players who average at least four per game. When a 6'10 player attacks in tight spaces, it's almost impossible to avoid making contact. Gallinari had 19 free throws against the Warriors, an incredibly high number. His 7.8 attempts per game from the charity stripe are tied for fourth-most in the league with Russell Westbrook and Jimmy Butler.
Gallinari needs those fouls because he’s struggling to finish inside. He’s shooting under 51 percent at the rim, a terrible mark.
Yet despite being a poor finisher, Gallo is among the most efficient high-usage players in the league thanks to his ability to pair prolific free throw shooting with excellent three-point shooting. As long as he’s drawing fouls at a high rate and hitting enough three-pointers, Gallinari will be a valuable scorer.
Gallinari has unlocked another facet of his game by focusing on rebounding. That’s a huge boon for the Nuggets, who needed him to improve in that area to become a viable power forward in small lineups. He’s answered the call and is pulling down more than six rebounds per game. He’s mostly feasting on uncontested boards and the team does suffer when he plays power forward, but the trade-off on offense is well worth it.
That ability to move up a position gives coach Michael Malone lineup flexibility. When Malone needs points, he can trot out a small lineup with Gallinari at power forward that scores at a rate of 115 points per 100 possessions, a mark that would lead the league. Opponents are forced to match the small unit, since Gallinari can not only shoot, but also run a pick-and-roll. That creates mismatches and opens up the paint for him to attack, especially after using a screen that draws an extra defender out while his teammates space the floor.
Players like Gallinari who can play two positions and allow a team to completely alter the type of lineups it uses are incredibly valuable in today’s NBA. He’s an efficient offensive player despite a poor field-goal percentage, has become a decent rebounder and doesn’t kill Denver on defense. Any contender would be lucky to have him if the Nuggets decided to trade him, but there’s really no good reason for them to do so. He is just 27 years old and recently signed an extension that locks him in at a fair value as the salary cap explodes.
Gallinari has become the player the Nuggets hoped for when they traded Carmelo Anthony for him. It has taken longer than anticipated because of his knee injury, but The Rooster is turning into the multi-positional weapon he always had the potential to become.
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