Danilo Gallinari
Milwaukee Bucks

Player Facts

Height: 6'10"
Weight: 233lbs.

Wingspan: 7'1"

Date of Birth: Aug. 8, 1988
College Experience: N/A

Selections

All Star: 0
All-NBA: 0
All-Defensive: 0

Player Grades

Speed/Explosiveness: 4
Physical Strength: 7
Positional Size: 10
Positional Wingspan: 10
Paint Scoring: 7
Midrange Scoring: 8
Three-Point Scoring: 9
Dribbling: 7
Passing: 5
Perimeter Defense: 4
Interior Defense: 5
Rebounding: 5

Embed from Getty Images

JUMP TO SECTION

> Intro

> Skillful Scorer

> Posting for Points

> Playing Different Roles

> Lights-Out from Deep

> Size on Defense

> Injury Concerns

> Athleticism-Based Shortcomings

> Low-Output Rebounder

> Perimeter-Heavy Offense

> Beacon Bacon

>Link to Player Contract & Salary Info

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*All statistical data courtesy of NBA Advanced Stats

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STRENGTHS

Intro

Danilo is a talented scorer with immense offensive versatility. He can be used in a myriad of different roles within the team offense. Regardless of how it unfolds, the 6'10" Gallinari has a knack for putting the ball in the net.

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Skillful Scorer

With all that size and skill, Gallo is a great option to throw the ball to for some shot creation. He was in the 69th percentile for isolation scoring in 2018-2019, and the 72nd in 2019-2020. An efficient, high-foul drawing, low-turnover player, these sequences tend to end with something positive for his squad. As recently as 2021-2022, he was still in the league's upper half for isolation scoring efficiently.

Gallinari not only has a great pump fake, but he'll just pause for a beat with the basketball and read how aggressively his man closes out. Danilo proceeds to power towards the hole with great ball skills at his size.

Posting for Points

Danilo is a very skilled and effective post player. When he has the height advantage, which is often, his team is well-served to feed him the rock in these spots. Gallinari has a particular affinity for the turnaround jumper over the top as well as the step-through past his man.

He ended up with more post points in 2019-2020 than Kristaps Porzingis, Steven Adams, and Bam Adebayo. Danilo earned his way into the 81st percentile here for his blend of post-up productivity and efficiency.

Gallo compliments his back-to-the-basket toolkit with a great face-up game. At 6'10" he barely leaves his feet to nail elbow jumpers right over shorter defenders. All in all, Danilo was more efficient on his 1.2 2019-2020 midrange buckets per night than guys like Kawhi Leonard, Bradley Beal, and Brandon Ingram.

His deceptive shot fakes and other post maneuvers help earn him trips to the line. Gallinari averaged 7.1 attempts per 36 minutes in 2018-2019 and 5.8 per 36 in 2019-2020. He's one of the game's elite at the charity stripe with his multiple seasons north of 90%.

Playing Different Roles

As such a versatile scorer, Danilo can capably initiate the screen-and-roll, be the roller or be the popper. When he's the ball-handler, he'll use long strides to get downhill.

Gallinari also rips the chords on above-the-break threes right off the screen. He was red-hot from this zone in both 2018-2019 and 2019-2020, knocking down 43.7% and 41% of these triples respectively.

On the whole, Gallo finished in the 66th percentile for scoring as the pick-and-roll ball-handler in 2019-2020. Additionally, he was in the 94th percentile as the roll man that same year. He's a deadly pop man who's more of a slip guy than a bruising screen-setter.

In spite of failing to rack up assists, Danilo shows flashes of playmaking skill at the four. He's executed a shocking number of pinpoint behind-the-back passes seemingly out of nowhere. More importantly, Gallo makes the correct pass, whether swinging it or passing it out of a double, more often than not.

Lights-Out from Deep

Gallo stays active and concentrated without the basketball. He runs guard-like routes and is an intuitive mover overall. Danilo also knows how to run two-man games with his center very well.

The Italian forward is a deadeye spot-up shooter which pads his off-ball worth. He pulls his man out to three, which provides value in its own right as these men typically have some shot-blocking ability.

2019-2020 saw him place third in total spot-up points, draining 41.9% of his catch-and-shoot triples. Volume-wise. Gallo posted a particularly prolific catch-and-shoot campaign across his year with the Thunder.

His 460 catch-and-shoot points in OKC were only bested by sharpshooters Duncan Robertson, Davis Bertans, and Ben McLemore. His accuracy from deep provided vital floor spacing for Chris Paul, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and Dennis Schroder that season.

Size on Defense

The 6'10" Italian can be a solid man defender. When he's not forced to shuffle his feet against zippy perimeter threats, he does good work with his size, length, mass, and smarts. Gallinari brings a high compete level on both ends and this especially masks some of his athletic deficiencies on defense.

Danilo is a respectable post defender. Nearly the size of most modern centers, he is not very exploitable on switches down low. He continues to be serviceable when opponents isolate against him, particularly inside the arc. Gallo was in the 84th percentile on the 13th-most isolations defended in 2019-2020.

WEAKNESSES

Injury Concerns

Durability has always been a concern for Gallo. He has only played in 70+ games twice across his lengthy career. His worst injury took place prior to the 2013-2014 season, one which he ended up missing entirely due to ACL surgery.

Athleticism-Based Shortcomings

Danilo has always been a more skill-based player than one who relies upon athleticism. On the offensive end, his craft and size have gotten him to be a premium scorer. The same shining rhetoric does not hold true on defense. Gallinari's mediocre lateral quickness and generally slow feet render his perimeter defense pretty poor.

Low-Output Rebounder

Gallinari should be bringing down far more rebounds as a big frontcourt player. This weakness can be somewhat attributable to his perimeter-heavy duties on both sides. Still, the fact that his 1.6 2019-2020 box-outs per game was identical to guards Joe Harris, Jrue Holiday, and James Harden is cause for concern.

Perimeter-Heavy Offense

An offensive nitpick for Danilo would be his relative lack of buckets inside. As more of a perimeter-oriented player, Gallo scores chiefly from three and the midrange.

Just 26.1% of 2018-2019 shot attempts were at the rim, dropping to 16.7% the following year. As a 6'10" power forward, he and his team would benefit from an increased number of interior looks

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Beacon Bacon

Gallinari, alongside other players and picks, was one of the integral pieces in the trade package that landed Carmelo Anthony in New York