Danilo Gallinari is one of the most intriguing prospects in this year’s draft because he is incredibly talented, but it is so difficult to feel fully comfortable in reaching a final pre-draft assessment.

He has a superb handle and plays the game like he’s 6-3 instead of his listed 6-9; similar to Kevin Durant, it is incredibly easy to forget he is so tall. Gallinari is great in the open court with a quick, confident dribble and excellent floor vision. He will get a defensive rebound and bring the ball up himself in transition and then look to setup his own shot or create for teammates.

He has nice athleticism and will dunk on people, but he labors a little bit in the air although his hang time is decent. He also doesn’t have the quickest first step off the dribble, which will make beating NBA defenders to the bucket difficult.

One point which cannot be stressed enough is that Gallinari’s ability to beat his man off the dribble will be almost entirely predicated on the threat of his jumper.

Fortunately for Gallinari, he is so long and is comfortable shooting tightly contested outside shots.

He has improved more recently in effectively using pre-dribble jab steps and step back jumpers, but Gallinari would get many more open shots if he moved better without the ball; he is far too stationary. When he does move, he has a nice natural feel for how to find open space on the perimeter. Gallinari is a good screener when motivated, but he is hardly used in this capacity in AJ MIlano’s offense, which makes him largely inconsequential without the ball.

When he penetrates into the lane and gets bodied, he begins to put his head down and crouch low, which hurts his vision and takes away the advantages of his length. Gallinari also loses his balance at these points and will take outright horrible shots anticipating being bailed out by a foul call.

I don’t doubt that he will eventually have a better understanding of what he can and cannot get away with on the NBA level, and the contortions that appear awkward and overly ambitious now will be successful and highlight reel good.

When he isn’t being tightly guarded, Gallinari has tremendous balance, but he loses that when he gets bodied and, therefore, becomes extremely turnover and travel prone.

There are times, albeit infrequently, when he is able to penetrate into the lane, stay upright, and finish impressively.

If he gets a free lane to the rim, Gallinari finishes extremely strong, both with power dunks and brilliant finger rolls with either hand.

His use of an on-ball screen is almost always negated because of taking a long route around the help defender or even sometimes going inexplicably backwards.

Gallinari has quality footwork in the post and is great with the pivot. He is shrewd enough to pivot himself free of a defender in the block although he sometimes takes too long before he makes his initial move, which will invite a double team when he becomes truly dangerous here. He has a great up and under, and he will be able to get anyone in the air because of how well he sells body fakes.

He likes to create contact and with the space can shoot an unguardable fadeway over the top.

Overall within the halfcourt offense, he frequently takes too long to make a move and too often takes a lot of air out of the ball when it is in his hands.

As a shooter, Gallinari is very good but is not quite pure. He has nice arc on his perimeter shot and has a subtly quick release although he is sometimes a little slow and lazy. His mechanics are very fluid on the catch-and-shoot, and the majority of his perimeter misses are high degrees of difficult attempts off the dribble.

He can jump off either foot well when he drives and sometimes will do the little Reggie Miller leg kick to draw contact.

Gallinari is a gifted passer from both the perimeter and post. When he is using the dribble on the perimeter, Gallinari has good vision of the entire floor and is a great decision-maker when he comes to a jump stop into the lane.

Defensively, Gallinari will never be great, but he has solid lateral quickness although he is susceptible to a quick first step from a smaller player. He uses his long arms to defend the passing lanes and will get an occasional fortuitous block. He is very conscientious about boxing out and knows that a defensive rebound will result in getting the ball up the court himself surely motivates his effort.

Gallinari clearly has an immature temper, and it seems to affect his play. He will kick a baseline scorers' table after getting fouled hard or slam the ball down off the ground sending it 25-feet in the air upon missing an and+1 opportunity.

He does, however, possess good leadership skills on the floor and a high basketball IQ, helping older more experienced teammates get into their proper positions on the floor.

His bust potential is almost nil, and he is one of the safest picks in the entire draft.

Gallinari clearly has an immature temper, and it seems to affect his play. He will kick a baseline scorers' table after getting fouled hard or slam the ball down off the ground sending it 25-feet in the air upon missing an and+1 opportunity.

i haven't noticed this at all from him since he's been here... obviously he's matured since this scouting report was written about him.

His bust potential is almost nil, and he is one of the safest picks in the entire draft.

LOL, some of the posters here obviously didn't get the memo.

NBA Comparison: Detlef Schrempf

Borko Popic - 6/17/2008
Strengths: Long and crafty player who has a knack for scoring Has become a very consistent shooter and can light it up from deep He is able to make shots in a variety of ways: contested, off the dribble (both ways), stepbacks, fadeaways Put together an impressive season in one of the top European leagues and has shown that he can carry the load as the primary scorer Is very mature for his age, plays with great confidence and composure Has an awkward 2 step (he is able to alter his speed and change direction once he picks up his dribble) going to the basket, allowing him to get by people and finish around the basket Shows patience when making moves, getting his defender off balance with a variety of fakes and jabs Knows how to draw contact and sell the foul to the refs When a defender cuts off his angle to the basket, he has a very effective up & under that he utilizes even out to 15 feet Anticipates well and uses his length to disrupt the passing lanes Has developed a scorers mentality, but there are obvious glimpses where he shows a good feel for the game and ability to find open teammates

Weaknesses: A high level European player does not always equal a contributor in the NBA His body has ways to go before it will be on the NBA level Athleticism and explosiveness are just average Struggles dribbling the ball against physical defenders which hurts even more considering his blow by ability is limited His secondary moves off the dribble are subpar and he is often forced to shoot difficult and offbalance shots Tends to dribble the ball high and even looks down on it as he is attacking, hurting his court vision and decision making Has minimal elevation on his jumpshot, he is more of a set shooter and his release is very robotic and lacks fluidness His legs are stiff which makes his movements seem a bit awkward and it takes away from his quickness While he has good height, he is strictly a perimeter player as he has minimal back to the basket moves and his weak frame also makes him a non threat in the post His rebounding numbers are only decent, for a player at his position, getting major minutes, they should be higher Defensively he is a liability; he gambles too much, plays with his hands down and is undisciplined Marginal foot speed and a weak body will leave his opponents salivating in excitement to abuse the mismatch

Notes: Basketball is in his blood, as his father is a former player and old teammate of current Knicks Head Coach Mike DAntoni

this is the equivalent of writing a thesis paper on marc berman's articles.

there's an elephant in this room, and i think the more astute observers have already picked up on it. i don't have the energy nor the will to be banned for stating it. 'word'.