The top international prospect heading into this year’s NBA Draft is Italian swingman Danilo Gallinari, who is implying that he’s only willing to play for the Knicks or the Nets. He hasn’t actually said that he’s not going to play anywhere else, but the reporter certainly inferred that point.
“I like New Jersey and New York. I like those two places,” the Italian forward said matter-of-factly after his one-hour, one-man workout with the Nets yesterday in East Rutherford. “Now I will work out for New Jersey and New York (today), then I don’t know (about) other teams.”
The reason being? He has all the leverage a teenager needs, in the form of a very lucrative multiyear offer from his team in Milan, so he doesn’t have to play in the NBA at all.
Most of the evaluation will be done by his dad and agent, Vittorio, and adviser Arn Tellem, who were both in attendance yesterday but didn’t speak with the media. Vittorio Gallinari has connections with Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni — they were teammates for many years in Italy — but his son has met D’Antoni “only one time some years ago,” so that isn’t likely to influence the Knicks’ decision about whom they will select with the No. 6 pick.
Indeed, given their backcourt deficiencies, the Knicks aren’t likely to consider Gallinari at all: While he is undoubtedly talented with a decent frame (6-9, 227 pounds), he was never scouted by Knicks president Donnie Walsh (only by Isiah Thomas), and that team is not likely to make a high-risk/high-reward pick off a few shooting drills.
At No. 10, however, the Nets have no such misgivings. They just wish Gallinari worked out against real competition yesterday, which he refused to do. That was his risk.
[Nets GM Kiki] Vandeweghe envisions Gallinari as a small forward, albeit a defensively challenged one. His strengths are shooting, shooting and shooting, but his athleticism is not highly rated by most scouts.
This seems pretty ballsy for a 19 year-old, but I suppose when you have a “lucrative” (whatever that means) contract from a team in Italy, you can be picky. Throw in the euro’s strength against the dollar, and it probably makes a lot of sense to stay in Italy.
