Nuggets coach Mike Malone said Monday that Gallinari would see time at both small forward and power forward this season, Chris Dempsey of the Denver Post reports.

Nuggets coach Mike Malone said Monday that Gallinari would see time at both small forward and power forward this season, Chris Dempsey of the Denver Post reports.

Analysis:

Gallinari's lithe frame (6-foot-10, 225 pounds) and tendency to linger on the perimeter makes him more ideally suited for minutes at small forward, but the Nuggets seem open to giving him run at the four when the team opts for a small-ball, up-tempo attack. In such scenarios, Kenneth Faried would likely move to center, potentially creating an avenue for Gallinari to improve on the meager total of 3.7 rebounds he averaged last season. Part of that was a byproduct of playing only 24 minutes per game, but Gallinari's playing time figures to rise in 2015-16 now that he's further removed from a April 2013 ACL tear and a December 2014 meniscus tear that compromised his explosiveness. At 27 years old, it's quite possible Gallinari has already peaked as an NBA player, but at the very least, he should remain one of the Nuggets' most potent assassins from the three-point arc. He knocked down 107 treys at a 35.5 percent clip while playing in just 59 games last season.