Danilo Gallinari Injury: Updates on Nuggets Forward's Knee and Recovery

Updates from Thursday, May 22

NBA.com has an update on Gallinari's recovery from knee surgery:

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Four months removed from knee surgery, Denver Nuggets forward Danilo Gallinari is moving without restriction as he works out in the weight room and on the Pepsi Center practice court.

Starting next week, his offseason conditioning program will continue in his native Italy as he gets physically and mentally prepared for a highly anticipated return to the NBA.

“I’m doing vey well,” Gallinari said after his workout Thursday. “I’m able to go back to Italy and do everything I want. I can play a little basketball and come back ready for training camp.”

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Original Text

Danilo Gallinari's 2013-14 NBA season is over before it even began, as the Denver Nuggets forward underwent reconstructive ACL surgery on Jan. 21 and has been ruled out for the rest of the year.

Gallinari underwent the surgery Tuesday morning in a procedure performed by Dr. Steve Traina at Midtown Surgical Center, per a Nuggets team release. Denver general manager Tim Connelly released an accompanying statement noting that Gallinari's initial knee surgery was "insufficient" and a reconstruction was necessary.    

“Danilo’s knee required that he undergo reconstruction of the ACL, which was successfully completed earlier this morning," Connelly said. "Knowing Danilo’s drive and work ethic, we look forward to a full recovery and a healthy return to the court next season.”

Yahoo! Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski first reported the surgery. 

Gallinari, 25, suffered a torn ACL in April 2013 and was expected to have surgery then—ruling him out for the season. When the injury was initially announced, the Associated Press reported via ESPN.com Gallinari had not suffered any meniscal damage nor did he need any repairs to additional ligaments. 

However, the AP later announced via ESPN.com that he did suffer a meniscus injury and underwent a procedure to repair that—not his ACL. As noted by Wojnarowski, a somewhat strange decision was made to avoid the ACL surgery, leading to Tuesday's announcement:

The unorthodox nature of the recovery, which saw Gallinari undergo non-surgical treatment, has bore itself out this season. Gallinari has not played a minute with the Nuggets, and his status has only rarely been alluded to.

Only recently did Gallinari acknowledge that missing the entire season was a possibility, per Emiliano Carchia of Sportando's translation of a recent Italian-language interview: 

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I haven't set a date for the comeback. It's a decision we will take further on. Hypothesis to miss this season? Everything can happen. It's an idea that passed through my mind. But then, maybe, I get back before.

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One of the most promising shooting small forwards in the league, Gallinari averaged a career-high 16.2 points per game and shot 37.3 percent from beyond the arc last season. Despite his absence, the Nuggets have still managed to field a top-10 offense and rank among the league's most prolific three-point shooting teams, per NBA.com.

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