TMS wrote:please don't take this as an "I hate Gallo thread", it's not... i have been 1 of his biggest supporters since he got drafted... & i'm not saying i think Shawne Williams is just as good a player as Gallo either... but right now w/the way Shawne Williams is shooting the rock, i think it makes Gallo more expendable... if we're going to trade any of our 3 top young players to upgrade anywhere, i think Gallo should be the 1st one to consider moving.w/our offense running through Amare & Felton w/Wilson also playing a significant role, i don't see much of a featured role for Gallo to become much better than the player he is right now, at least not offensively... he's pretty much averaging the same numbers this year as he did last year, i think he may have plateued a bit... things could change obviously down the road, u never know what types of injuries could occur that might thrust Gallo into a more featured role, but right now as things stand, i don't think it would be a huge loss if we dealt Gallo to upgrade at the 4 or 5 (depending on where Amare plays).
Completely agree with everything being said here. Gallo is what he is -- I like him, but I don't see him ever being that much more that what he is right now which is a good shooter (one of many we have on this roster right now mind you) and only average to slightly above average in every other area of the game. Last night in PHX was only the second game w/o him but seriously, look at the last two games (at home against the Spurs, the best team in the league, and @ PHX) and tell me where we miss him and what he brings that we don't already have..His offense, basically his best attribute he offers the team, has been easily absorbed by our other top offensive threats -- I'm perfectly cool with Ray & Chandler getting more shots--if Ray & Wil have gotten those additional shots right from the beginning, they'd both be locks for the all-star game.. Then you're talking about guys like Shawne Williams & Bill Walker getting addition perimeter shot attempts -- those two can shoot the ball esp Williams, man what a find he's been huh? WOW!), we're scoring enough pts, we're rebounding the ball just as well if not better, we're playing just as well defensively..I mean someone tell me please, where in the last 2 games has anyone said to themselves, 'man, if we only had Gallo in there'? I'm beginning to suspect, even in games we lose, people won't be thinking that afterward..
Again, like TMS said, I'm no Gallo hater either, and I'll be looking at more than just 2 games to really test the theory, but if after this 2-3 week period or however long it takes Gallo to heal, we're still playing and rolling, even the biggest Gallo fan has got to look at this situation for what it is: Gallo might be better served as trade bait to make this team better than what it is right now..I say you do it now before other GMs begin to see Gallo as more of a support player and not a guy that still has all this untapped potential..If after a couple of years Gallo's play levels out to more or less what we're seeing right now and then we have to start paying him some real bucks (if everything stays the same and we keep this roster core intact--Gallo will eventually be looking for Wilson Chandler-type money, bank on it, and what have we been saying that'll be, in the $8-10M a year range??), it'll be even harder to move him..It might make less sense to deal for him at that time--even for the teams out there that have always liked him; smart GMs will go out and find guys that bring just as much if not more than Gallinari for a much better price---I know that's what I'd look to do..I understand every trade has it's own thought-process behind making it (I understand he'll never be Rashad Lewis or Gilbert Arenas untradeable) but on face value alone, I wouldn't trade for Danilo Gallinari at $8-10M a pop if I didn't have to, I can tell you that..I suspect he'll never have as much value as he does right now -- he's young, still on his rookie contract and he still may have potential in some other teams' eyes around the league --- start shopping him right now and see what you can come up with..