Benjamin Hochman of the Denver Post is reporting that the Nuggets and Danilo Gallinari have agreed to a 4-year contract extension worth about $42 million. Click here. How do you feel about this $10 million and change a year deal for the 23 year-old forward? Gallo is averaging 17.4 points and 5.2 rebounds for the Nuggets this season.

Move over Christian Okoye, there's a new "Nigerian Nightmare" in town ... Nuggets general manager Masai Ujiri.

Gallo has shown a still improving game for the Nuggets and might just prove to be the star player that nobody thought the Nuggets had. The extension for Gallo is a no-brainer and a great move by the Nuggets. At just 23 years-old, Gallo is proving to be a hard working player that is also capable of doing big things for the Nuggets franchise.

Gallo is shooting 46.2% from the field this season and 31.1% from beyond the arc. He is attempting 6.0 free throws a game and has had four games of over 10 free throw attempts, including a season high 18-20 from the foul line against the Knicks. Star players have a knack for getting to the foul line in the NBA, and if we just look at his free throw attempts, and makes - 89.2%, he is proving to be a star in the making.

The Nuggets may have negotiated against themselves on this extension, but I believe it would have been a big mistake to let a player of Gallo's ability hit the open market ... especially with the New Jersey Nets and Dallas Mavericks clearing salary-cap room at an enormous rate.

At $10 million, or so, per season Gallo will be making considerably less than a guy like Andre Igoudala ($13.5M this season) or Rudy Gay ($15M this season), but may prove to be at least as good, if not better, than them. And at $10M per season, Gallo will be the second-highest paid Nugget behind Nene Hilario, who makes roughly $13 million per season.

The Nuggets organization is again moving in the right direction ... especially when you consider that general manager Masai Ujiri is helping to buck-the-trend of the Nuggets allowing their players to play out their contracts before they offer a contract extension.

This is a good deal for the Italian Stallion and the Nuggets.

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