The Denver Nuggets have shipped Ty Lawson out the door for pennies on the dollar, However, some of the other guys rumored to be moved by the Nuggets are staying put. At least for now. For example, there is Wilson Chandler, who agreed to a contract extension with the team 10 days ago.
Now it’s Danilo Gallinari’s turn.
The Italian forward with a deft scoring touch — he averaged 12.4 points a game last season and improved in the second half — has reached a deal on a two-year contract extension with the team, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports.Denver Nuggets forward Danilo Gallinari is finalizing an agreement on a two-year extension worth an additional $34 million on his contract, league sources told Yahoo Sports.
The deal is a restructuring that includes a $2.5 million increase on the $11.5 million owed to Gallinari as he enters the final year of his contract in 2015-16, sources said. Under the newly negotiated terms, Gallinari will make $14 million this season, the first of a deal that runs through the 2017-18 season, sources said. He will make $15.5 million in 2016-17 and has a player option worth $16.1 million for the third year of the deal and a full trade kicker, sources said.
I like the deal for Denver. If you think that’s too much for Gallinari, you are forgetting two things. First, the salary cap is about to spike by around $40 million, as it does this deal looks better and better. Second, Gallinari can score the rock. Once he got healthy and comfortable last season he was putting up numbers — he averaged 18.6 points per game and shot better than 40 percent from three after the All-Star break. He just got paid like a scorer.
The risk is that Gallinari has battled knee injuries. He got right last season, but is spending the summer playing for the Italian national team.
With this extension, Gallinari cannot be traded until January 21, 2016. Similarly, Chandler cannot be moved until next January either. While that allows time before the trade deadline (and the multiple years make it easier to trade those players because they are not rentals), it also gives new Nuggets coach Mike Malone time to see what he’s got. Can these veterans fit in as part of the Emmanuel Mudiay future in Denver? Also, it gives the Nuggets time to raise the players’ trade profile, should they decide to shop them anyway.
If one Nugget were likely to still get traded in the coming weeks or during training camp, it would be Kenneth Faried. The Nuggets will still listen to offers for him.