Winners and losers from the Danilo Gallinari sign and trade with Hawks, Nuggets

Danilo Gallinari was acquired in a sign and trade deal involving the Atlanta Hawks and Denver Nuggets. Paul Millsap will head to Denver while Jamal Crawford and a 2018 first-round pick while march to Atlanta. Who are the winners and losers of the deal?

After the Los Angeles Clippers lost out on Chris Paul, dealing him to Houston, many had wondered if L.A. would hit the reset button. That obviously isn’t the case. After getting some key bench pieces with the Rockets in the CP3 deal, Los Angeles was also able to keep Blake Griffin on a max deal. The Clips now added more fuel to their roster adding former Nuggets forward Danilo Gallinari. Who are the winners and losers of the three-team deal involving the Italian Stallion?

Winner: Denver Nuggets

Sure, Denver lost Gallinari in the deal but I’m not so sure that’s a bad thing. Obviously, Denver would have loved to have Galo back but he isn’t worth the new contract he received. Part of the three-team deal will ink Gallinari a three-year $65 million deal with the Clippers. Don’t get me wrong, he’s a great player, but he has quite the injury history.

The new Clippers forward has played more than 64 games in a season just twice in his NBA career. Galo shouldn’t command a salary of that statue when he never stays healthy. Maybe I’m totally wrong about this and Gallinari finally puts together an injury free season getting out of Mile High. Nevertheless, Denver got the best player in the deal to make them winners, Paul Millsap.

Millsap is a perfect fit for Denver which gives them a tough low-post presence next to Nikola Jokic. If there is one thing Jokic struggles with, it’s his interior defense. Trying to bully ball Paul Millsap, on the other hand, isn’t going to fly. While Millsap’s deal was really lucrative (three-year, $90 million), the third year of that deal is a team option which Denver can squeeze out of if he ages poorly. Millsap, 32, averaged 18.1 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 3.7 assists per game in 2016-2017. Getting a four-time All-Star and 18 points per night player is never a bad thing. The Nuggets got better and officially joined the arms race in the Western Conference.

Loser: Los Angeles Clippers

This one is easy, the Clippers lost the deal. The most important thing to build with any team is an identity and a winning culture. I challenge you to try to find an identity with what the Clippers are trying to do. The Clippers are a mess, plain and simple. There clearly is a rift between the players and Doc Rivers or else Chris Paul wouldn’t have left. There’s also some resentment from other players due to the fact that Rivers made sure to pony up the extra dollar for his son Austin who is nothing more than a bench player (three-year, $35 million contract).

The biggest quandary facing the Clippers wasn’t the fact that they didn’t have any talent, it was the fact that they had horrible floor spacing. The combination of DeAndre Jordan and Blake Griffin wasn’t working because they both can’t shoot. In the modern day NBA, you can only have one player on the floor at a time who can’t shoot a three. LA often times had 3 if you include their dismal small forward combinations last year. This limited the Clippers true potential.

If you look back at the time Blake Griffin was hurt, the team actually had a better record without him. That only personifies the floor spacing problem. Now L.A. foolishly added Danilo Gallinari, a 6-foot-10 guy who will add to those floor spacing problems. Now, Gallinari did cash in on 38.6 percent of his 3-point attempts, but should really be playing the stretch-four spot in the modern NBA. L.A. doesn’t have a lineup that can switch on pick-and-rolls. Instead, they have two of the most injury-prone players in the NBA (Blake Griffin included). What’s the ceiling with the Clippers? An 8 seed? It was time to start over in L.A. not add to your sketchy roster construction. Let’s not forget the fact that L.A. also gave away a first-round pick and Jamal Crawford to complete the deal.

Loser: Atlanta Hawks

Talk about another team that window has completely closed. It was only two years ago that the Hawks were a 60 win team and the first seed in the East. I commend the fact the Atlanta is starting over and finally going through the rebuilding process. The part I question is the lack of assets left over from that 60 win team.

The Hawks let Al Horford walk out the door for nothing. Instead, they opted to sign Dwight Howard who was shipped out a year later for an ugly Miles Plumlee contract. They also let Paul Millsap walk out the door for next to nothing instead of dealing him before it was too late. The only piece they were able to recoup was the Jeff Teague deal snagging stud rookie Taurean Prince.

Now the Hawks are left with a 2018 Rockets pick that will be basically worthless with Houston being a top tier contender. Jamal Crawford, who also comes in the deal, has already requested a buyout. If the Hawks do buy him out, they would have to swallow Jamal Crawford that’s worth over $28 million over the next two years. Then again, maybe Crawford will leave some money on the table to force his way to a contender. Either way, wouldn’t the Hawks be better off with nothing instead of eating a bad contract? How did Atlanta mess up a trade that they could have easily let Millsap leave for nothing? This only speaks to the dysfunction going on in Atlanta.

Winner: Jamal Crawford

Leaving the disarray that’s going on within the Clippers organization could be a blessing in disguise. Being bought out by the Hawks and going to a contender is even better. With Atlanta expected to buy him out, not only will he be able to cash in on his previous deal, he may end up making even more money. While Crawford may only getting the Mid-Level Exception ($5.192 for taxpayers), he would then be set to earn over $20 million this year if he keeps the full freight from the inevitable Hawks buyout.

Forget the money for a second, Jamal Crawford can now go ring chasing! The man with the sickest handles in the league could opt to play with the Warriors and become a champion. With Ian Clark hitting restricted free agency, Crawford seems to be a logical replacement. Crawford, 37, can still make an impact in this league.

During the 2016-2017 season with L.A. Crawford played in all 82 games averaging 26.3 minutes per night. It’s safe to say the 37-year-old hasn’t lost his legs yet. The former 8 overall pick in the 2000 NBA Draft averaged 12.3 points per game on .360 percent shooting from 3-point range.

Next: Paul Millsap signs with Nuggets: 5 biggest questions we have

Winner: Eastern Conference

Another Eastern Conference team got worse with Atlanta dealing away Paul Millsap. Paul George, Jimmy Butler, and many others have gone from East to West this offseason. Many pundits suggested that maybe it’s time for conference realignment, for now, the West looks extremely tough. Some really good teams in the West including the Timberwolves, Nuggets, Jazz, and Thunder may miss out on the playoffs that otherwise would have been top 4 seeds out East. What kind of ripple effect could this have going forward?

For now, we wait on the Gordon Hayward decision. With a clear path to the Finals waiting for him in Boston, the talent going from East to West could seriously play into his design. LeBron James realistically has one or two elite years left in him. Once the LeBron decline begins to take shape, the East will be a complete crapshoot.