1. SF/PF Danilo Gallinari
Maybe we’ve forgotten because he missed a year and a half with injury and when he did return most people had already tuned out, but Danilo Gallinari is really good.
It’s hard to tell because his last three seasons have been derailed and delayed by injury, but when looking at his per-36 numbers, Gallo has actually gotten better every year in Denver, going from 16.7 to 17.9 and then 18.5 points per game.
During the Nuggets final two months last year, when Gallo finally got back into the rotation as a full-time starter, he was absolutely fantastic, scoring 19 points a game (shooting 40 percent from three) in just over 30 minutes. And while I know 90 percent of you didn’t watch the Italian team play in EuroBasket, I can promise you that Gallo was equally impressive over there, too.
If that’s the guy we get in Denver this season — a true No. 1 scoring option — then I have no doubt that the Nuggets will be one of the NBA’s biggest surprises of the year.
