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Danilo Gallinari To The Washington Wizards: NBA Trade Idea

By Ben Mehic

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The Washington Wizards are going to play a modern brand of basketball next season.

After their success playing small in the NBA Playoffs, Randy Wittman talked about wanting to continue that style of play, hoping to form a roster around John Wall and Bradley Beal this offseason.

With that said, Nene will have a reduced role next year. The Brazilian big man struggled in the playoffs and it became evident that he’s not capable of playing along side Marcin Gortat anymore.

Even though there has been some talk about bringing Nene off the bench as the team’s backup center, his reluctance to play the position has been well-documented. If he does not want to become the team’s backup, Ernie Grunfeld might have to find a new basketball home for him.

We’ve often seen players re-unite with their old squads — we saw Kevin Garnett traded back to the Minnesota Timberwolves this past season.

So, I thought, why not send Nene back to the Denver Nuggets?

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Washington will need a wing next season, especially if Paul Pierce opts to sign with the Los Angeles Clippers.

The Nuggets are in a weird situation and might look to trade some of their key pieces to rebuild their team.

Danilo Gallinari will become an unrestricted free agent in 2016, making him a terrific trade chip for the rebuilding Nuggets.

Nene’s $13 million contract will expire after the upcoming season as well.

Gallinari, a 6’10” combo forward, would be a terrific fit along side Washington’s young core.

His ability to space the floor and create for himself would take pressure off Wall and Beal, and he’s also capable of playing some stretch four.

Gallinari is one of the most versatile players on Denver’s roster, so he’d give Randy Wittman plenty of options to work with.

The 26-year-old Italian forward averaged just over 12 points per game this past season, but picked it up during the latter half of the season. It took him some time to recover from a devastating ACL injury, but he did bounce back. Gallinari dropped 47-points against the Dallas Mavericks on April 10th.

In order to figure out if this deal would work for both sides, I got insight from Nick LeTourneau (@nick_lt) of NuggLove.com, FanSided’s Denver Nuggets site.

(The hypothetical deal would include: Nene + 19th overall pick to Denver for Danilo Gallinari)

Nick’s Nuggets Perspective:

This is a trade that I would accept any day of the week.

The Nuggets are in full rebuild mode and are open to trading just about anyone, especially after deeming the only player not on the trading block was rookie center Jusuf Nurkic. While Danilo Gallinari has really stepped it up as of late — he should be available.

Getting back Nene would actually solve some major concerns with our lineup. Nene is a player that can play the four or five positions and succeed. This would put Kenneth Faried back at his natural position of power forward and Wilson Chandler at small forward.

Nene could then slide over to power forward when Nurkic came off the bench to play center.

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    • Picking up the 19th overall pick in the draft is also something very attractive to Denver fans who are starved for young talent.

    Even though the draft is very top-heavy as far as talent goes there is one player in that range who is we should have our eye on — Jerian Grant from Notre Dame.

    After spending four years in South Bend he has grown into a complete player.

    His ability to facilitate the offense and find his own shot would be very valuable to a team who might have to trade their starting point guard.

    He could add a lot to a team looking for depth at just about every position.

    Losing a talent like Gallinari will hurt us in the short-term. He is the only player on our team that can constantly and efficiently get his own shot.

    Although he will be missed, he will ultimately be what helped kickstart the rebuilding that this team desperately needs. His value is at an all-time high since he was moved from New York, it is time to cash in before the inevitable happens.

    So, there you have it. Should the Washington Wizards attempt this trade? Let me know in the comments section.

    Make sure to check out NuggLove.com for everything Denver Nuggets and give Nick a follow (@Nick_lt).

    Next: Wizards Draft Primer: The Wings

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