Rumor: Danilo Gallinari interested in returning to Denver, has multiple suitors

After initially stating that the Denver Nuggets were on the level of every other team, Danilo Gallinari told La Gazzetta dello Sport (via Sportando) that the Nuggets were back in the lead:

“Free agency is something new to me” Gallinari told La Gazzetta dello Sport. “I will have a lot of meetings and I am curious to see what the teams are going to offer me” the forward said. “My goal is to remain in Denver. And I will have with the Nuggets one of the first meetings. They have the priority, I want to talk to them and listen to their offer. Nuggets are my first option”.

This changed from the original story, and it’s possible that Gallinari and his agents are receiving intel that the contracts teams are willing to offer aren’t as high as they anticipated. The same piece states that Gallo feels he is worth a max contract, but the market says something different and he won’t get the max.

From Zach Lowe in his free agency mega-preview:

A year ago, it was almost unanimous among executives that someone would lavish Millsap a four-year max deal. People once muttered the same about Serge Ibaka and even Danilo Gallinari, but the market for both has cooled to the $20 million range, sources say.

$20 million a year for Gallinari sounds about right, and it’s possible that the Nuggets would be willing to pay that price. The length of the contract might be a concern, but for a player of Gallinari’s caliber, $20 million is more than fair.

Furthermore, Gallinari is said to be courted by nine teams, according to Sam Amick of USA Today:

This is very possibly just leaked information from an agent trying to boost the market, but Gallinari fits well on a variety of teams around the league, so it could be legit. If contenders are trying to acquire Gallo, it’s possible that the Nuggets could miss out on him; however, Denver can trump all offers from a financial perspective if they so desired.

The price tag for Gallinari will likely be higher than $20 million annually if there are in fact nine teams competing for his services. It will be interesting to see how Gallo’s individual free agency plays out.