Danilo Gallinari has joined the Atlanta Hawks in the form of a sign-and-trade, the Oklahoma City Thunder announced Tuesday.
Oklahoma City sent cash considerations along with the forward to Atlanta. In exchange, the Thunder received a protected 2025 second-round draft pick and a trade exception.
The trade exception is worth $19.5 million, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks.
The Thunder have now racked up a few trade exceptions this offseason, most notably Steven Adams’ $27.5M exception and Gallinari’s that is worth almost $20 million. These can be used to help match salary in trades, but cannot be used as part of the same deal.
Gallinari signed a three-year, $61.5 million contract with the Hawk, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski first reported last week.
He is to be paid an estimated $19.5 million this season, which is where the exception comes from. It is projected to increase to $20.5 million next season and about $21.5 million the following year, according to Sportrac.
Gallinari played one season with the Thunder after being acquired from the Los Angeles Clippers as part of the Paul George trade. The marksman averaged 18.7 points in about 30 minutes per game while shooting 40.5% from 3 on 7.1 attempts beyond the arc per game.
The Thunder, entering a rebuild, parted ways with Gallinari, who signed with a Hawks team hoping to get into the playoffs this season.
