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| Can Gallo say healhty? |
Call the loss of Carmelo Anthony whatever you want to call it. The New York Knicks acquired his services because they were willing to give up one important piece, and that was Danilo Gallinari (Timofey Mosgov and Wilson Chandler were sweeteners) who the Denver Nuggets just extended by 2 years to create a 3 year deal essentially worth $15 million per year. If you are curious about the hope the Nuggets have for this season, the Gallo deal is all you need for clarification. A truly rebuilding team would let go of Gallo to get maximum value for him while teams are still willing to take a risk on his health. By keeping him and extending him just long enough to sign him again in 2 years if he lives up to expectation, the Nuggets have decided that Gallo's rebuilt knee are all the rebuilding this team needs for now.
Disregard This Article If Gallo Gets Hurt......Thank You!
The Knicks never promised that Gallo would be the type of player that Carmelo Anthony had been in Denver while the Nuggets thought New York had won the deal but quietly hoped Melo would crumble beneath the immense weight of Madison Square Garden and demanding Knicks fans. If Melo remains the great scorer and marginal teammate who never fulfills his promise to carry a team to the crown, Gallo won't only been seen as that valuable piece of the Nuggets/Knicks trade who really helped Denver ease the pain of losing Melo, he'll soon be competing heads up with Melo for who's a better player.
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| Chandler might be scared to shoot at times, but he is a consistent scorer who defends on the other end too. Does a healthy Gallo make him an All-star player? Does Mike Malone inspire him to his best? |
Disregard This Article
This bold comparison of players assumes that Gallo will stay healthier than he has in his past as an NBA player. When healthy, I'm banking on the youth and versatility of Gallo over the age and predictability of Melo. At 26 (almost 27), Gallo is at the prime of his career and likely to stay there for the next 5 years. Ty Lawson's designation as Denver's top player over the past few season's was primarily because Gallo missed too many games, not because Lawson deserved the label.
Now that Lawson is history in Denver, Emmanuel Mudiay has the chance to take over the Denver Nuggets soon and make this his team just as the new coach publicly declared, yet that's not likely to happen in his rookie season. 'Taking over a team' kind of leadership takes time to develop, especially at the point guard spot where premier players (Chris Paul, Steph Curry, Kyrie Irving, John Wall...etc.) are paid premier dollars to lead their teams with premier performances. Mudiay must elevate his game and his team quickly if the Denver Nuggets hope to outperform the skeptics who have determined this team to be in full rebuilding mode despite the fact that, minus the point guard change, the roster looks mostly the same as it did last season. Gallo remains the teams best player for sure, but will he be keeping Mudiay's seat warm until he's ready to officially take over for himself? At this point in his career Gallo has yet to show himself eager to be that kind of leader, preferring instead to hit big free throws and make big shots as his way to lead his team. Insiders suggest that this year could be different.
From the day Gallo and the gang arrived in Denver, this team has showed the ability to beat anybody so long as they bring a lunch bucket effort night in and night out.
Three times in recent years, Denver's front office has gotten rid of capable coaches in the hopes that a less experienced replacement could accomplish something different despite the fact that 57 wins and a Coach of The Year in Denver represents the first bar that needed raising.
Michael Malone will be tasked with saving Tim Connelly's job by developing the future players while bringing cohesion to a team that must win enough games to justify basically standing pat with the roster. Melvin Hunt, a coach who had been with these same players since George Karl was here, seemed willing and capable of winning while developing the youth but was replaced for an uncertain change just like his two former bosses experienced. Nuggets fans are clear headed enough to recognize championship coaches from first round exit coaches just as we recognize front office fishing expeditions. We also recognized that last years team could have won even more games if they had remained consistently professional and uncovered reliable outside shooting. Connelly has promised us that his buddy Mike Malone is the right guy to deal with each of these issues.
Gallo is nothing if not a reliable shooter and an eager scorer. He's had his moments of end game success and never shies away from living with the results of casting up game winning attempts. Whether Randy Foye or Wilson Chandler actually become consistent shooting help for these Nuggets hinges on the quality of shots they are given by our point guard tandem which now includes Mudiay- an exceptional passer- and veteran guard Jameer Nelson as the end game, ball handling decision makers who WILL distribute to the right players at the right times. Gallo's contract says he will be asked to create when games are tight, and his exceptional passing skills will also pay great dividends if he continues to elevate his stature as a capable and dangerous NBA scorer.
Smooth Says: "The Nuggets Are Rebuilding!"
Without the Mayor of Park Hill, Chauncey "Smooth" Billups in Denver's back court (which has been quite a few season's now), way too many close games, even during the Karl years, have been lost in Denver due to poor end game execution. Because he never had a a half court attack, Karl's Nuggets had to blow teams out and hold on for dear life. This point is noteworthy because I believe that a Nuggets team with a healthy Gallo will be nipping at the tails of their opponents in a lot of games this year. If they find a way to establish the hometown, lung busting advantage, we should blow teams out occasionally just by virtue of the thin Mile High air. Taking the court with a healthy and mature Danilo Gallinari anchoring the way will snatch a couple of victories right out of the jaws of rebuilding's hungry mouth.
Take the Atlanta Hawks for example, a team without a closer or a means of insuring points when games are tight. They advanced to the Eastern Conference finals with defensive effort and ball movement. Granted, the East is an easier road to take than what these Nuggets must overcome in the West, but it isn't a cake walk. Minus a mid-series adjustment by Steve Kerr, LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers would have taken the title from Golden State with east coast style basketball anchored by Denver Nuggets cast away, Timofey Mosgov. It's possible that the Warriors have altered the course of future championship pursuits with their small ball victory, but the signs say several teams are still willing to try to win it all employing the bully-ball style that Cleveland almost won with. These Nuggets are poising themselves to play both styles well.
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| Jusuf Nurkic is the Nuggets Center of the future, but the front court is full of big men fighting for relevance. Stay tuned! |
If They Like Mosgov, Wait Till They Meet Nurkic.
In Denver, interim coach Melvin Hunt scratched out a few wins this way last year making the end of the season at least entertaining. But he also nurtured some of the new talent while doing it. There is a saying that basically goes, "what must be done eventually is best done immediately. Mosgov got traded mid-season to Cleveland because Jusuf Nurkic made it a foregone conclusion.
When this portion of the Denver rebuild occurred, Shaw, and then Hunt, had to live and then die from the exploits of a rookie center. Coach Malone will be expected to win at least as much as Hunt did with this virtually unchanged roster just to justify another coaching change that left some Nuggets fans scratching their heads again. For this team, simply maintaining the mediocrity of last year's end would be considered growth through stability instead of what many around Denver are expecting to see this season- taking two steps back for the hope of one big leap forward (see; rebuilding).
I was primarily on board with the concept of rebuilding, though I think the process began with the firing of George Karl which ushered in the hope of playing young talent for long stretches (see; rebuilding). And then I watched Mudiay play during the summer league games. He has some grooming to do as any young player would, but his time in China has paid off big with confidence and overall court awareness. Mudiay is Rajon Rondo with a slightly better shot. Rondo can't shoot so that is not a compliment. Mudiay must improve in this area quickly because opponents WILL soon be forcing him to shoot the ball instead of allowing him to create for others, which he does extremely well already. He is not a fearful or hesitant shooter so he will knock down some of those open shots from confidence alone on good nights.
Gallo and Galileo (finding stars)
Mudiay's bad nights won't be a lot worse than roller coaster Ty Lawson who was probably fighting hangovers as much as bad health last season. If Mudiay only has to be as good as Lawson wasn't last year, then signs are positive for some success. The only way THIS Nuggets fan accepts the word REBUILDING from the same core roster we've had since Melo left is if Gallo, whom I rejoiced over when we extended his contract, spends another year rehabilitating an injury.(Disregard This Article If Gallo Gets Hurt......Thank You!) If Gallo STAYS healthy- the extended contract says the Nuggets are betting he will- he is a budding all star who will earn his first all-star appearance by keeping a rebuilding team in the hunt for the playoffs throughout the entire season. Whether or not they make it in will be a function of how good our new coach is at grooming babies and finding stars.
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