Danilo Gallinari was going about his business on a seasonal summer day when the phone rang.
On the other side of the line was Nuggets general manager Tim Connelly,who called with an offer he hadn't seen coming. He wanted to extend Gallinari's contract.
"He was saying they were trying to do something about it," Gallinari said Tuesday in a phone interview. "And then after that my agent called and we started talking more about what the extension was about."
Less than a month later, a deal was struck and the contract — three years, $45 million — was signed.