After clearing waivers on Sunday, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN confirmed that veteran sharpshooter Danilo Gallinari has officially inked his deal with the Boston Celtics. The deal is reportedly for two years, $13.3 Million dollars fully guaranteed with a second year player option. The Celtics have used the full Taxpayer Mid-level Exception to sign Gallinari, and with the Malcolm Brogdon trade and re-signing Sam Hauser and Luke Kornet officially in the books on July 9th, Boston will have three open roster spots to fill out.
Two years at the full Taxpayer MLE for Danilo Gallinari with the Boston Celtics.
Boston has three open roster spots to fill either via trade or minimum signings.
— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) July 10, 2022
The Celtics will now be the sixth NBA team Gallinari has suited up for since joining the league in 2008. Gallinari, who turns 34 on August 8th, was originally with the Atlanta Hawks before he was dealt to the San Antonio Spurs as part of the Dejounte Murray trade. After negotiating a buyout with the Spurs, the Italian product was choosing between contending teams to join, and ultimately chose Boston over Chicago.
With the addition of Gallinari, the Celtics bolster their bench unit with some size and someone capable of stretching the floor and knocking down shots. In this past season with Atlanta, Gallinari was shooting 38% from beyond the arc, and at 6 foot 10 inches will pose mismatch problems on offense. It’s unclear as to what type of role Boston has talked to the forward about, but it would make sense for him to factor in at the four spot off the bench to add some firepower to Boston’s second unit.
Since Gallinari is not known for his defense, there should be no expectations to see him in any significant minutes at the center position. After missing out on center Thomas Bryant as he inked a reunion with the Los Angeles Lakers, the Celtics are expected to be on the free agency market looking for a free agent center to sign for the vet minimum.
Following Daniel Theis being traded to Indiana as part of the Brogdon deal, the Celtics are extremely thin outside of Al Horford and Robert Williams. Kornet has been retained, but he shouldn’t be counted on for reliable minutes. As such, if Boston is unable to find a suitable option in free agency, the plan is to utilize the Evan Fournier trade exception before it expires on July 17th. Celticsblog’s Keith Smith recently wrote on some potential trade targets that the Celtics could target to flesh out their bench with their remaining roster spots.
