LAS VEGAS – For the better part of five seasons, the L.A. Clippers have had significant issues when it came to filling the small forward spot with a lengthy, two-way player to pair with Chris Paul and Blake Griffin. A lot of that was due to financial restraints, and it kept the Los Angeles-based team from having postseason success beyond the second round. Going into the 2017-18 season, however, the Clippers have their guy in Danilo Gallinari.
Last week, the Clippers officially announced the sign-and-trade deal with the Atlanta Hawks and Denver Nuggets that saw guard Jamal Crawford and center Diamond Stone head to Atlanta, forward Paul Millsap move to Denver, and forward Gallinari move to Los Angeles. Gallinari's arrival to the Clippers is something head coach and President Doc Rivers as well as vice president Lawrence Frank have been trying to make happen for years due to his numerous abilities on the court.
“This is a guy that we've been after for 2 years, and we basically had to wait for free agency to get him,” said coach Rivers. “I can't tell you how excited I am as a coach.
“One of the reasons we wanted him was the versatility. He has the ability to play the three (small forward) or the four (power forward). His passing ability, his scoring ability, his playmaking ability. With him and Blake, you look at the 3-and-4 passers and playmakers… I don’t know if there’s any better combination in the league.”
For the past six seasons, the Italian has played the small forward spot for the Nuggets, but would often shift down to the power forward slot when Denver wanted more shooting or different matchups on the floor. At a towering 6-foot-10, Gallinari brings ball-handling, playmaking, and shooting to add alongside the 6-foot-10 playmaking Griffin and the 6-foot-11 rim-protecting DeAndre Jordan.
In his introductory press conference in Las Vegas, Nevada on Saturday afternoon, Gallinari expressed his excitement to get on the court and get to work with his new teammates.
“I'm very very excited. One of the reasons why I chose LA is because of the team that we have, so I have no doubt that I'm going to fit in. Like Doc said, I'm a very versatile player so I can fit into different systems. the excitement that I have to play for Doc and for this team is great and I think that I will fit in right away.”
The 28-year old brings career averages of 15.3 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 2.0 assists per game. He's also coming off of the second best season of his career averaging 18.2 points, 5.2 rebounds, 2.1 assists, and 2.0 made three-pointers per game on 42 percent shooting from the field and 37 percent from beyond the arc.
As a member of the Nuggets, Gallinari often played alongside a sharpshooting small forward and Nikola Jokic, but the frontcourt he'll be playing next to in Los Angeles is of the likes he's never played with before. During his meetings with the Clippers, the eight year forward was impressed and looked forward to making Doc Rivers' vision of a powerhouse frontcourt a reality.
“I think that we have a very complimentary game. We can play together in different positions. I can play the three, he can play the four. But in some situations, he can play the three or the five and I can play the four. So there are a lot of good and different options that we can use and I'm honestly very, very excited for that part of the game.”
While L.A. did bring in Gallinari as their biggest acquisition of the summer, they also lost out on three pieces that were all crucial to the changing of the franchise over the last six years. Chris Paul, J.J. Redick, and Jamal Crawford helped the Clippers rise from a bottom-feeding team in the NBA to a respected franchise that is in the right direction, but just hasn't been able to get over the hump.
Prior to the Chris Paul era of Clippers' basketball, the franchise never had a season with more than 49 wins or a win-loss record higher than .598. During the Chris Paul era, L.A. won at least 51 games in five-of-six seasons (Clippers went 40-26 in 2011-12 lockout season).
To close out his interview, Gallinari noted the importance of Paul to the franchise over the last half-decade, but knows that he has a chance to create something special with this new team.
“I think that in all these years, they did an unbelieveable job and also I really appreciate all the work that, don't forget, Chris Paul, did in all these years for this team, but also what DeAndre did and Blake has done is pretty amazing. Not just numbers-wise, but what they have accomplished is pretty amazing.
“Like I said one of the most exciting part about being part of this team is playing with two big men like this that I've never played before. I've only played against them. Its not easy to play against them and so I'm very happy to play with them.”
It will be interesting to see how well Gallinari fits into a new Clippers' system that was once based around Chris Paul and Blake Griffin creating offense. The additions of Gallinari, a defensive-minded Patrick Beverley, a young wing in Sam Dekker, a scoring machine in Lou Williams, a beast in the paint in Montrezl Harrell, as well as the Serbian playmaking wizard Milos Teodosic, will give Clippers fans a new and exciting look at their neam.
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