Before the injury, I would have rather sign Melo instead of Gallinari
I’d prefer Gallo, but Carmelo is a quality replacement at the minimum.
I have to admit that I'm not too thrilled with Gallo's defense. If Carmelo can be better, this could be the right move. He's not known as a defensive stalwart and he's old so I'm just not sure.
It's actually interesting, both of these guys have been pretty underrated defensively over the years. Both got a reputation for being poor defensively early on, and it stuck with them, even when defensive metrics were showing above-average defense. Believe it or not, Gallo was actually rated as a pretty good defender for a lot of his time in Denver and LA. Carmelo always had the capability, and showed it on occasion.
But, at this stage, I think both are poor defenders, even when engaged. They've just both gotten noticeably slower, and of course Gallo will be worse when he comes back next year.