Denver Nuggets trade rumors: Nuggets may trade Gallinari

In the competitive Western Conference, the Denver Nuggets are a few pieces away from possibly cracking into playoff contention.

While they have not made it to the post-season in the past three years, the Nuggets have a few players that can establish the team as a strong presence in the near future. The big-man partnership of Nikola Jokic and Jusuf Norkic seems like a great prospective pair, while Emmanuel Mudiay and Jamal Murray seem like capable backcourt players.

Unfortunately, that leaves some of the older stars out, and Danilo Gallinari appears to be one of them.

Talks are saying that there is a possibility that Gallinari is dealt to another team as the Nuggets try to get more pieces for their young core.

One of the things that the Nuggets need to take care of is their bench which is pretty thin right now. Rumors are linking them to the Portland Trail Blazers and Allen Crabbe.

Trading the two players may be beneficial as it would address both teams' needs. For the Blazers, it gives them another threat with Gallinari so it stretches the floor for Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum to work.

Gallinari is a proven scorer as his figures show him averaging 14.9 points and 4.6 rebounds per game.

At the moment, he has improved in his 10 games with the Nuggets. He currently averages 16.8 points and bringing him to the Blazers will definitely help Portland's chances of making it far in the playoffs.

Meanwhile, if the Nuggets succeed in getting Crabbe, they will have a spark off the bench as Crabbe does in his current role with the team. The main difference is that with the Nuggets, he can make much more of an impact because he will have a chance to play more minutes.

Crabbe's numbers may not be jaw-dropping, but given his role, it is quite impressive. He averages 7.2 points and 2.1 rebounds per game in limited minutes.

This trade should be looked at by both teams as it could potentially be a big deal for them in the near future.