Danilo Gallinari tearing his left ACL in early April of 2013 was the beginning of the end for the Nuggets as championship contenders. Without Gallo, the Nuggets were upset by the upstart Warriors and are now on their second head coach post George Karl.

Much like the team as a whole, Gallinari hasn’t been the same since that night. He had been fighting injuries and confidence on the court, not living up to the potential of a guy who was the center piece of the Carmelo Anthony trade. However, he is finally healthy and is poised to return to form with the Nuggets this season.

Gallinari will enter training camp after a very successful summer playing for Italy in the Euro Basketball Tournament. The Italians qualified for the 2016 Olympic Qualifying Tournament with Gallo leading the way. He averaged 17.9 points per game, which was the fourth highest of anyone in the tournament, to go along with seven rebounds and three assists. For his career in the NBA, Gallo’s averages are 14.2, 4.5 and 1.8, respectively. For his efforts, he was named a Top Performer.

Last season with the Nuggets, Gallinari improved late in the season but still only averaged 12.4 points per game, shooting 35% from three. With healthy knees, and his confidence back, Gallo improved to shoot 40% from behind the arc for Italy this summer.

In Mike Malone’s system, Gallo will provide the flexibility of either playing small or power forward. Gallo was having his best season as a Nugget in 2012-13 in a similar role prior to getting hurt. This summer with Italy proved that he is healthy. With a young Nuggets roster, Gallo can be an offensive leader and translate his Italian stats to the NBA, which would be the best of his career.