No longer content to let Shams Charania scoop him on Nuggets deals, Adrian Wojnarowski has reported that the Los Angeles Clippers and Denver Nuggets are working on a sign-and-trade deal to send forward Danilo Gallinari to L.A. on a 3-year, $65 million deal.
Sources: Clippers, Nuggets working on sign-and-trade to send Gallinari to LA on 3-year, $65M deal, but sides still working thru details. https://t.co/LXLgzmeZVc
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 4, 2017
The sign-and-trade would presumable help the Clippers fit Gallinari's salary onto their roster without going too far into the luxury tax while providing an asset to Denver in return. It is unclear what the asset will be, but Nuggets fans hoping for Patrick Beverley are probably over-optimistic, as a deal like this signals that Gallo would be heading to the Clippers either way.
Still, with Paul Millsap at power forward, the Nuggets have less need for Gallinari, and it's a promising sign that they are getting an asset in exchange for him, whatever it may be. More on this as it develops.
EDIT: Woj has now specified that the Nuggets are working with the Atlanta Hawks, and the package for Gallinari now includes Jamal Crawford, Clippers center Diamond Stone, and Atlanta's first-round pick:
Clippers and Nuggets using Atlanta to take on package of Diamond Stone, Jamal Crawford, and a first-round pick, sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn)July 4, 2017
According to a subsequent tweet, the Clippers would send a first-round pick to Atlanta, Atlanta would send back-up center Diamond Stone to the Nuggets, and the Nuggets would send Gallinari to L.A. While the Nuggets certainly seem to be coming out the worst in this deal, that's to be expected if they aren't willing to match Gallo's 3-year, $65 million deal that the Clippers are trading for. Stone gives them a backup center in case Mason Plumlee gets a better offer, and they retain the cap space to sign another free agent like George Hill. Overall, they're overstocked at the power forward position anyway, so I'm fine with them taking a loss on a trade rather than losing Gallo outright.
Diamond Stone is 20 years old, 6'11'', and 255 pounds. In keeping with Doc Rivers's coaching habits, the young center didn't get much playing time for the Clippers in his rookie season, playing only 7 games, all of them in garbage time. In those games, he averaged 1.4 points and 0.9 rebounds.
Again, this is likely a precursor to some free agent signing by Denver--clearing Gallo from their books should give them the space to sign George Hill while preserving cap space for Gary Harris's extension.
DOUBLE EDIT: According to USA Today's Sam Amick, the trade is as follows: The Clippers get Gallinari, the Hawks get a Clippers' first-rounder, Crawford, Stone, and cash, and the Nuggets get a Hawks second-rounder.
This seems to be more of an obvious cap-clearing move by Denver, or possibly just something to get anything out of Gallinari leaving. At this point, the mystifying thing is not that Denver is involved in this, but that the Clippers are willing to get rid of a first-round pick and Jamal Crawford in order to acquire a player they could have simply signed (though I suppose nothing is out of the ordinary about the Clippers throwing away a first-round pick. Doc Rivers really doesn't want to deal with anyone who's been in the league fewer than seven years). There was initially some thought that the Hawks might be sign-and-trading Millsap to Denver as part of the deal, but that seems to be a no-go for various contractual reasons--the Nuggets are still signing Millsap as a free agent, which will use more of their cap space but also preserve their team option for the third year (side note: the NBA collective bargaining agreement is an economist's nightmare, and could probably do with some simplification).
The good news is, Crawford might be the best player on the Hawks at this point, so if that second-rounder is for 2018, it's a high one. The Nuggets still have Faried as a backup power forward, and get a chance to try Tyler Lydon, Trey Lyles, and Juancho Hernangomez as candidates for a possible longer-term backup (I really hope Juancho's future is at the 3, but who knows). And the Nuggets have cap space to make an offer for George Hill, though he's recently met with the Lakers and might be interested in mentoring Lonzo Ball for a year in exchange for ridiculous compensation.
Regardless, the Nuggets seem to be stuck in the same position they were in before all this--competing with New Orleans, Oklahoma City, Minnesota, Portland, Utah, and the Clippers for the last four playoff spots in the West, which is where they are likely to remain unless at least two of Jokic, Harris, and Jamal Murray reach All-Star status. While that's definitely a possibility, the ridiculous glut of talent in the West means that Nuggets fans should probably just view a playoff spot as the goal for the immediate future.
