Written by Ryan Weinkauf at The Lottery Mafia
The talent possessed by Italian swingman Danilo Gallinari has never been questioned, but multiple bouts with injuries and instability have prohibited the Denver Nuggets forward from succeeding as much as was projected of him. Now healthy and the number one threat for the Nuggets, Gallinari is beginning to shine.
When Danilo Gallinari plays basketball, the results are usually pretty good. Besides his rookie season, Gallinari has averaged double figures in points every year of his career, and at least averaged 14 points in six of his eight years.
The biggest problem for Gallinari throughout his career has been actually being able to play basketball. Injuries have affected Gallinari throughout almost his entire career. Over his eight seasons, including 2013-14 when he missed the entire season recovering from an ACL tear, the Italian has only averaged 47 games per season.
If you have played sports on any level, you know an injury that keeps you out for an extended time can disrupt your game once you get back. This inability for Gallinari to put together multiple seasons where he has been relatively healthy has prevented him from fully blossoming as a player.
Finally, Danilo Gallinari has recovered from his harsh history of injuries, and even that is a stretch seeing as he missed six games this season already, but his performance has really gone to another level.
Gallinari is indisputably the number one scorer on this Denver Nuggets team, and that has helped him breakout offensively. This season, he is averaging 18.6 points per game, significantly higher than his 14.5 career average. But recently, Gallinari has been red hot, averaging 25.8 points per game in the last five, and shooting 46 percent from the field. And even though the Nuggets are struggling this season, with a 15-24 record, Gallinari led the Nuggets in scoring as they upset the Golden State Warriors 112-110.
To continue reading this article, click here
