As he prepares to enter free agency this offseason, Thunder forward Danilo Gallinari tells Michael Scotto of HoopsHype that he believes the idea that he’s injury prone is unfair and that he hopes to have dispelled that notion by not missing any significant time during the last two seasons.
“I’ve had small injuries that everyone has. I only had two big injuries, which was the back my first year and the ACL back in 2013 when I was in Denver,” Gallinari said. “I honestly don’t understand why I have this injury-prone stigma on my shoulders, but it’s just not true. It’s not facts. The facts are different. I’m very healthy, and I’ve been playing seasons with no problems playing almost every game. Most of the games I didn’t play is because it was a team decision to rest and not being injured.”
Asked specifically about his free agency, Gallinari said he’d “love to run it back” and return to Oklahoma City in 2020/21, but he sounds open to exploring other options as well. The 32-year-old previously suggested he may prioritize an opportunity to win a title over securing the most lucrative possible contract, but he told Scotto that he’s not necessarily seeking out just one specific kind of situation.
“The part I love is that I have the chance to look at everything,” Gallinari said. “Honestly, I don’t have one direction or one thing that I’m looking at. In your career, you can’t be a free agent every year. When it happens, for me, it’s this summer, I want to take my time and look at everything.”
Here’s more from around the Northwest:
- After being known as the Pepsi Center for over two decades, the Nuggets‘ home arena is getting a new name. As Mike Singer of The Denver Post details, the team’s building will now be known as the Ball Arena as a result of a partnership between Ball Corporation and Kroenke Sports and Entertainment.
- Likening Karl-Anthony Towns and D’Angelo Russell to Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray, Jonathan Tjarks of The Ringer suggests the Timberwolves are in position to follow the roster-building blueprint established by the Nuggets. However, Tjarks acknowledges that the Wolves need to start adding more two-way players and would benefit tremendously from finding their own version of Paul Millsap.
- The Timberwolves‘ dilemma with the No. 1 pick is exacerbated by the fact that most of this year’s top prospects aren’t elite shooters or defenders, which are the two kinds of players Minnesota would most like to add. Passing along comments from president of basketball operations Gersson Rosas, Chris Hine of The Star Tribune examines how the Wolves will assess which prospects are capable of improving their outside shooting.
KAT<Jokic and DLo<Murray. The Wolves won't get too far if they're to be their best two players.
The only thing Jokic is better than KAT is passing.
In the last two years, Jokic has finished 4th and 9th in MVP voting, with KAT not getting a single vote, so obviously there are many people who feel different about it.
At the beginning of the year SI and ESPN listed KAT at 13 and 18 vs. Jokic at 8 and 7, respectively, in their lists of the top 100 NBA players, just in case you need more input. And I don’t think KAT has done a lot this year to improve his ranking.
In 12 seasons, Gallinari played 70+ games twice. He is older now so injury bug will bite more frequently. He will not get the buck$ as a result. Maybe playing 15 min per game would keep him healthy.
Dang, I had my first chance to use the term “load management” in reference to the 20-21 season and blew it.
Gallo brings value yet you have to balance the contract numbers with the question of his availability. Can you trust he’ll be there when you most need him?
Wolves need to trade back 3/5 spots , pick up extra draft picks and pick Double O!!! At least we would have some defense in the paint. They are TERRIBLE on defense and the draft should be ALL about defense.
Saddiq Bey at #17 would fit nice
Okoro at 5 or 6 would be nice
Wolves are NOT one player away from being playoff contenders , so find a way to dump James Johnsons contract and find some defense.
The 2nd round pick should be for a PG that can shoot….but it will be a sleeper by that point.
Called it!
Interesting piece in the Ringer, but a bit late. I said MIN was imitating DEN after the last trade deadline when they got Beasley & Juancho.
But DEN never really did get two-way players. They drafted for offensive potential, let their players run & gun, didn’t trade their core, then the HC started turning the screws getting noticeable at it 18/19. The past year the braintrust was willing to sacrifice wins to get tougher. In the bubble things got difficult with HC Malone pressing but they picked it up to overcome deficits and justify the later methods. But there’s no Crowder types there. They did trade for Jerami last offseason but he can shoot.
Interesting next draft, what they draft for, but if they’re still following the Denver model, it won’t be for defense.