There was a time just a few years ago when Danilo Gallinari was what teams wanted in a four that fits the modern NBA game — he ran the floor well, could stretch the floor to knock down threes, could put the ball on the floor and get to the rim, just could do a lot of things on offense. He was Il Gallo, the rooster. He scored more points per game (17.2) then anyone else on a 57-win Nuggets team.
Knee injuries have robbed us of that Gallinari.
First it was the torn ACL at the end of that 2013 season, followed by a surgery that didn’t fix the problems and had to be redone so he missed all of last season.
Now this: Gallinari has a torn meniscus in his right knee but could return in a few weeks, as reported by Chris Dempsey of the Denver Post.
#Nuggets F Danilo Gallinari diagnosed with a meniscus tear in his right knee. He's out indefinitely, and will need surgery.
— Chris Dempsey (@chrisadempsey) December 21, 2014
Gallo is expected to have surgery in the next day or two, and there is a tentative timetable now; out three weeks. #Nuggets
— Chris Dempsey (@chrisadempsey) December 21, 2014
Ugh. but at least he’ll be back. Hopefully closer to his old self.
Gallinari hadn’t been the same this season, coming off the bench scoring 7.8 points a game this season and shooting just 36 percent overall and 31.4 percent from three. He hadn’t been much of a factor and was already not the same player, the one Denver needed if they were going to be playoff contenders in the West this season (the Nuggets are 12-15 with a below average offense and defense).
Gallinari has one year left on his contract after this at $11.6 million.
