Thursday, June 15, Danilo Gallinari made the rather unsurprising decision to opt into his final year under contract with the Boston Celtics, as ESPN NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the 34-year-old has exercised his $6.8 million player option for the 2023-24 season.
Veteran forward Danilo Gallinari has exercised his $6.8 million player option to return to the Boston Celtics for the 2023-2024 season, his agent Michael Tellem of Excel Sports Management told ESPN on Thursday.
Signed last summer via free agency, Gallinari was looked upon as a much-needed depth option behind Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown out on the wing while also being viewed as a potential trusty scoring option for the Celtics to have within their second unit.
Unfortunately, the forward never wound up playing a lick of action during his inaugural season in green and white, as he suffered a torn ACL in his left knee while playing for Team Italy during the FIBA World Cup in August of 2022 and missed the entirety of the campaign.
However, now after nearly reaching a full recovery from the grueling injury, Danilo Gallinari will look to set his sights on aiding in Boston’s efforts of contending for banner number 18 next season.
Exec Says Danilo Gallinari May Never Suit Up for Celtics
Though Danilo Gallinari’s decision to opt into his second season under contract may have Celtics fans believing the plan is for the veteran to play a role within Joe Mazzulla‘s rotation in 2023-24, one league executive is seemingly urging people to pump the breaks on such an idea.
During a sit-down with Heavy Sports NBA insider Sean Deveney, an anonymous Eastern Conference exec suggested that considering they wound up falling short of a title this season, it’s a rather probable scenario that the forward never winds up seeing the floor for Boston.
“It is probably a likelihood more than a chance,” the executive told Deveney. “There will be a stronger possibility that they try to package his contract and make a move.”
Gallinari, an expiring contract, could very well be used as an add-on in a trade to help make the money work in a deal to bolster the rotation around Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown for next season.
The last the forward was found logging minutes in the NBA was in 2021-22, where he averaged 11.7 points per game on 38.1% 3-point shooting for the Atlanta Hawks.
Throughout his 13 NBA seasons, Danilo Gallinari sports career averages of 15.6 points and 4.8 rebounds per game all while shooting a highly efficient 38.2% from deep.
Celtics Favored to Land Nikola Vucevic
This summer, there could be several big-time changes made to the roster of the title-hopeful Boston Celtics, and one could include seeing the franchise land a new franchise big to man the pivot and formulate a new Big-3 alongside Tatum and Brown.
According to Betonline.ag, the C’s currently hold the best odds (+300) of landing two-time NBA All-Star Nikola Vucevic should he leave the Chicago Bulls this summer in free agency.
Though this may come as somewhat of a surprise to some fans, as the Celtics have Robert Williams III serving as their current franchise center, aside from his astonishing defensive abilities and otherworldly athleticism, the 25-year-old has severe limitations to his overall upside as a player due to his lacking overall offensive game and his inability to stay healthy.
With this, perhaps committing to a proven star like Nikola Vucevic could be a logical move for the club to make.
Since 2018-19, the 32-year-old has proven to be a trusty inside-out frontcourt scoring threat and is boasting impressive per-game averages of 19.8 points, 11.3 rebounds, and 3.5 assists throughout this span while shooting 49.4% from the field and 35.6% from deep.
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Danilo Gallinari Makes Major Decision on Future With Celtics