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When thinking about the biggest “what-ifs” in NBA history, most fans would start with guys like Derrick Rose, Greg Oden, or Bill Walton, who were decimated by injuries throughout their otherwise storied careers. But it’s not just injuries that can hold a player back; trades can have a similar effect, and that’s exactly what happened to former NBA swingman Danilo Gallinari. In a recent chat with the media, Galo explained how his trade to the Nuggets in 2011 (in exchange for Carmelo Anthony) completely altered the trajectory of his career. While repeated injuries also played a role in his decline, everything went downhill after leaving the Knicks, and Gallinari claims he still talks about it to this day. “No, I sometimes talk about it. I think about it just with friends and family when we sometimes talk about basketball and my career,” said Gallinari in a chat with HoopsHype. “We think about it, or when I come back to New York, and I talk to my fans or people in New York who still work for the Knicks, we talk about it, but there is a lot of, unfortunately, because of my injuries, there is a lot of what-if in my career. I don’t know, I’m probably the biggest what-if guy in the history of the game, maybe. But it’s part of an NBA career. It happened to me, unfortunately, more than any other athlete probably, as far as injuries, but I don’t think about it too much.” Carmelo Anthony may or may not have forced the Nuggets’ hands, and they had little choice but to accept the Knicks’ offer. Seen as the direct replacement for Anthony, expectations were set high out of the gate, but Danilo did not have long to live up to them before tearing his ACL in 2013. It was a brutal blow to the Nuggets at the time (who had won 57 games), and there were feelings of resentment toward Gallinari for failing to recreate Anthony’s success. “Yeah, when Masai Ujiri and coach Karl talk about it, they blame it on me because I tore my ACL right before the playoffs that season, and then we lost against Golden State, and we were supposed to go all the way to the Finals, and so after the season, if I don’t get injured, the season goes differently, and coach Karl being the Coach of the Year and Masai being the GM of the Year, maybe they have a different path,” Gallinari added. “The Nuggets have a different path, but that’s another huge what-if. But I had a great time in Denver; it was the only team that I played for more than two years. I played there for six and a half seasons, so it’s definitely the city and the team that I’m closer to. And so I had a great time in Denver.” As a former sixth overall pick, Danilo Gallinari was once projected to be one of the NBA’s best shooting guards. By his second season, he was showing signs of greatness with averages of 15.1 points, 4.9 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 0.9 steals, and 0.7 blocks per game on 42.3% shooting from the field. He had a good thing going in New York, and his career might be entirely different had the Melo trade never happened. Unfortunately, it’s too late to go back now, and Gallinari will forever live with the thought of missed opportunities in New York. But his story is ultimately a reminder that many circumstances are outside a player’s control. For Gallinari, things did not go as he expected, but he’s satisfied knowing he did his best despite the circumstances.