Apr 10, 2015; Denver, CO, USA; Denver Nuggets forward Danilo Gallinari (8) shoots the ball during the second half against the Dallas Mavericks at Pepsi Center. The Mavericks won 144-143 in double overtime. Mandatory Credit: Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports

Ever since the 2013 NBA Playoffs began, it hasn’t been easy being a Denver Nuggets fan. That George Karl-led squad won 57 games, locked up the third seed in the conference and seemed like a dark horse to represent the West in the NBA Finals. But then Stephen Curry‘s third quarters happened, the Nuggets lost in six, Karl was fired and those Nuggets quickly depreciated to fool’s gold.

It didn’t get any better from there. New head coach Brian Shaw was a disaster in his time at the mast of a sinking ship, canceling shoot-arounds because his players like to party, reading millennial books to try and relate to his players and failing to coax any sort of effort out of his players on the defensive end. When he was finally fired a few months ago, he left with a 56-85 record.

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But Shaw hasn’t even been the worst of it compared to the dumpster fire of a roster, highlighted by the currently flaming-out Ty Lawson — a player the Nuggets need to trade immediately — and his problems with drinking and driving. Lawson has been arrested with two DUIs in 2015 and checked himself into rehab for the next 30 days.

Drafting Emmanuel Mudiay gives hope for the future, but after a dismal season in 2014-15 and another one likely on the way in 2015-16, it’s hard to feel optimistic about the Nuggets these days.

That’s precisely why re-signing Danilo Gallinari is such a great idea.

According to Christopher Dempsey of the Denver Post, the Nuggets want to reach an extension with Gallo after doing the same with Wilson Chandler. Gallinari only has one year and $11.5 million left on his contract and will become an unrestricted free agent next summer, so Denver wants to make sure he’s a part of their franchise for the long haul. Even in the middle of their rebuilding process.

To be honest, Gallo’s ACL tear may have been the start of the Nuggets’ spiraling descent into depression that began late in the 2012-13 season. Without Gallinari, who averaged a career-best 16.2 points per game that season, Denver fell well short of their playoff aspirations. Over the next 19 months, his struggle with recovering from that injury mirrored the Nuggets’ struggles on the court.

Last year, Gallo received pretty inconsistent minutes in Brian Shaw’s nonsensical rotations, averaging 12.4 points and 3.7 rebounds per game while shooting 40.1 percent from the field and 35.5 percent from three-point range.

But he found his stride as the year progressed (and, most notably, after Melvin Hunt took over and started giving him consistent minutes again), and his comeback quickly became the best part of Denver’s largely forgettable season. This play basically encapsulated what it was like watching Gallinari — not the Nuggets, mind you, but Gallinari — after the All-Star break:

He averaged 17.8 points and 4.8 rebounds per game in March and those numbers jumped even higher to 22.3 points and 5.5 rebounds per game in April (on a superb 52.3 percent shooting from the field and 46.3 percent shooting from downtown). He broke his career-high in scoring twice, dropping 40 points in March before upping it to 47 in April.

After the All-Star break, Gallo put up 18.6 points (team best) and 4.8 boards per game while shooting 44.3 percent from the floor and 40.4 percent from three-point range (another team best). When he’s healthy, Gallinari has proven he’s still one of the best players on the Nuggets’ roster in addition to being a perennial fan favorite.

.@dempseypost reports #Nuggets want to open extension talks w/Gallo. Connelly told me last month on-air they want Gallo around long-term. — Raj Sharan (@Raj_Sharan) July 16, 2015

At 26 years old, Gallinari’s strong finish to the 2014-15 season indicates that he still has room to improve — or at the very least, that he’s still good enough to be a contributor on a team that needs something to feel good about these days.

His ability to exploit mismatches as a stretch-4, to defend on the wing, to knock down three-pointers and to strut confidently down the court like a rooster (which is where his Italian “Gallo” nickname stems from) after hitting a big shot cannot be understated right now.

Locking in a two-way wing like Wilson Chandler was a good move, but extending Gallinari would easily be the feel-good move of the summer for a franchise that only has Emmanuel Mudiay and Jusuf Nurkic to be optimistic about right now.