The Boston Celtics escaped the trade deadline by adding a veteran shooting big man without parting ways with any of the core group or Danilo Gallinari, who is still recovering from an ACL tear he received in the summer.
The growing speculation leading up to the deadline was that Boston would combine Gallinari’s contract with a pairing of Payton Pritchard, Justin Jackson, Luke Kornet, and even Grant Williams’ name came up a few times in regards to stacking salaries to match contracts.
It’s fair to mention Boston could’ve saved upwards of $10 million if they parted ways with Gallinari. Further showing their invested interest in what he can offer the Celtics. So if the Celtics are willing, it seems like it could be a win-win situation for Boston by keeping him around.
It’s unsure how much of a market Gallinari actually has around the NBA right now, considering his age and injury history at this point in his career.
The Celtics, however, have been impressed with his recovery and seeing him maneuver around the court during practices. He’ll essentially be used as a wildcard for Boston, who can get the best of both worlds by utilizing Gallinari down the road and that includes the disabled player exception the league granted the Celtics due to Gallinari’s injury.
On top of it all, Gallinari wants to play in Boston, a dream come true for the veteran shooter, which he has a great opportunity of doing so in the later part of the regular season or the playoffs as his recovery is going well.
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