BOSTON — Danilo Gallinari will be back for another season with the Celtics after the veteran forward opted into his $6.8 million player option on Thursday to return to Boston, according to a report from ESPN.
The decision was not surprising after Gallinari missed the entire 2022-23 season due to a torn ACL in his left knee. Gallinari signed a two-year deal with the Celtics last July and was expected to be a big part of their plans before he suffered the injury while playing for Team Italy in a FIFA World Cup qualifying game in August.
Gallinari had surgery in September and rehabbed with the Celtics all season while traveling with the team and serving as a veteran voice on the bench throughout the regular season and the playoffs. He was hopeful of a return during the playoffs as he ramped up his workload but while he was participating in full-court workouts when the Eastern Conference finals began, he couldn’t get his conditioning up to speed in time and hadn’t yet been cleared for full contact workouts to make an unlikely comeback.
“My 15th season in NBA is over,” Gallinari posted in a tweet after the Celtics’ season ended last month. “I would have liked to play. I would have liked to debut in this jersey in front of these amazing fans. I would have liked to help my teammates. And I would have liked to see us until the end.”
The Celtics hoped Gallinari would give them added size and shooting off the bench last season and second-year forward Sam Hauser seemingly assumed that role. But after a hot start to the season, Hauser faded out of the rotation and barely played during the playoffs.
Gallinari turns 35 years old in August and though the C’s would be wise to get younger in their frontcourt this offseason, the veteran shooter should give them a solid scoring punch that they could have used in the late stages of last season’s playoffs. He scored 11.7 points per game on 38.1% 3-point shooting in 2021-22 with the Hawks.
The next game Gallinari could play in is the FIBA World Cup this August in the Philippines but it’s unclear yet if he’ll be fully cleared for the tournament.
“I think it’s something, just like every year, where I sit down with the team (the Celtics) and see what’s going on,” Gallinari told The Athletic in May. “I’m far away from playing in a game. I’ve started doing a little bit of contact but not like game-type of contact.”
