Possible Replacements For Celtics To Consider After Danilo Gallinari's Injury
After losing in the NBA Finals to the Golden State Warriors, the Boston Celtics quickly regrouped this offseason and upgraded their secondary talent with the additions of Malcolm Brogdon and Danilo Gallinari.
Everything had been going well for the Celtics this offseason and it looked like they were finally going to get the forward depth they had been needing with Gallinari’s arrival, but then the veteran got injured while representing Italy in the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup Qualifiers.
Initially said to have a meniscus injury in his left knee and said to have avoided a major injury, The Athletic’s Shams Charania was the first to report on Friday that after further evaluation of Gallinari’s left knee, he was diagnosed with a torn ACL.
This is the same ACL that Danilo Gallinari had torn in 2013 when he was with the Denver Nuggets and now, instead of missing a few months with a meniscus injury, Gallinari is likely out for the entire 2022-23 NBA season.
Gallinari, 34, had long wanted to play for the Boston Celtics and finally having a chance to sign with them this offseason after being traded from the Atlanta Hawks to the San Antonio Spurs and then subsequently waived by the Spurs, the veteran forward will now face an uphill battle trying to get on the floor for this upcoming season.
“This has been a tough week for me as I have learned the extent of my injury,” Gallinari said in a statement he tweeted out on Friday. “This game means everything to me and not being able to be on the court with my Celtics teammates hurts. I plan to give everything I can to the Celtics organization and my teammates as we hunt for a title.
“I will work tirelessly with the Celtics staff to return to the court as soon as I can and I appreciate the unwavering support from the fans, my teammates and the entire NBA family.”
Replacing Danilo Gallinari and his lost production will not be an easy thing for the Celtics to do this late in the offseason, but they still have some options in both free agency and on the trade market ahead of training camp that they could consider. Here are some possible replacements for Boston to look into.
Carmelo Anthony - Free Agent
He is definitely not the All-Star, top-tier scorer he once was earlier in his career, but the fact that Carmelo Anthony is still a free agent is just disrespectful.
Carmelo is a ten-time All-Star, a six-time All-NBA forward, he led the league in scoring during the 2012-13 season and he was recently named a member of the NBA’s 75th Anniversary team this past season. Not to mention, Anthony can still play at a relatively high level and can be an impactful player off-the-bench.
This past season with the Los Angeles Lakers, he averaged 13.3 points and 4.2 rebounds per game while shooting 44.1% from the floor and 37.5% from three-point range. Not to mention, Anthony played in a total of 69 games and only started in three of them.
According to Bally Sports’ Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson, the Celtics are a team to have shown interest in adding Carmelo Anthony this offseason and now with Danilo Gallinari out indefinitely, this move makes a lot more sense.
Anthony can score from anywhere on the floor, he can be a floor-spacing forward and he can be an instant spark for Boston off-the-bench, especially since they have ranked near the bottom of the league in bench scoring over the last couple of seasons.
In terms of the best forwards still available as free agents this offseason, Carmelo Anthony definitely checks in at No. 1 on the list.
Montrezl Harrell - Free Agent
Settling his off-the-court issues recently, Montrezl Harrell should begin to gain some interest from a couple of teams around the league looking to add frontcourt depth.
Harrell is in no way a “replacement” for Danilo Gallinari given that Gallinari tends to play on the wing and Harrell in the paint, but the former Sixth Man of the Year has the ability to play either the power forward or center positions.
He would provide depth behind Al Horford and more importantly, Harrell would be the Celtics No. 2 option at the center position off-the-bench behind Robert Williams III.
Frontcourt depth is something the Celtics do not have right now and ahead of training camp, Al Horford, Robert Williams III and Luke Kornet are their only three big men under contract for the 2022-23 season.
Maybe Boston will stay away from Harrell because of some of the off-the-court issues he has dealt with this offseason stemming from a traffic stop arrest, but there is no denying that he is a “bruiser-like” big man in the paint and is absolutely someone that could fit the physicality the Celtics like to play with defensively.
Blake Griffin - Free Agent
Should Boston search for another stretch forward that has the ability to play and defend multiple positions, Blake Griffin could stand out as a possible minimum-contract replacement for Danilo Gallinari.
Griffin has dealt with a ton of knee issues through the years and is definitely not the six-time All-Star he used to be, but Griffin is experienced and knows his role in this league. Most importantly, he is not afraid to defend anyone and always tends to step in to take a charge.
Blake Griffin is a very underrated defender and while many are quick to pick him apart for what Giannis Antetokounmpo did to him in the 2021 NBA Playoffs, that is Giannis Antetokounmpo we are talking about! There truly is nobody in the league that can defend him and to Griffin’s credit, he did not do that bad of a job defending the two-time MVP.
Playing in 56 games with the Brooklyn Nets this past year, Griffin averaged 6.4 points and 4.1 rebounds per game while shooting 42.5% from the floor and 26.2% from three-point range. For his career, Griffin has shot 32.7% from three-point range.
Much like Danilo Gallinari, Blake Griffin has the ability to be a shooting threat on the perimeter, just not at as high of a level as Gallinari. On the flip side though, Griffin is a better defender than Gallinari, making him a solid fit for a defensive-oriented team like the Celtics.
Bojan Bogdanovic - Utah Jazz
Making a trade to bring in a big contract is likely out of the picture here for the Boston Celtics given that their payroll for the 2022-23 season exceeds $170 million right now, but Bojan Bogdanovic truly is the best replacement for the Celtics that is currently available in trade talks.
After dealing Donovan Mitchell to the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Utah Jazz are “open for business” in regards to the rest of their veteran players like Mike Conley, Jordan Clarkson and Bojan Bogdanovic.
A career 39.2% three-point shooter that can play either forward position, Bogdanovic may actually be a better version of what the Celtics could have been getting with a healthy Danilo Gallinari.
Boston has flirted with the idea of pursuing Bogdanovic before and best of all, he is entering the final year of his contract this upcoming 2022-23 season. The only problem with trying to trade for him is that it would cost the Celtics some assets, as the Jazz are not looking to “dump” the veteran and he is owed $19.3 million, meaning the Celtics would have to try and send out close to $19 million in total salaries to even make a trade work.
Seeing as Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Al Horford, Marcus Smart and Robert Williams III are not going anywhere, this means that Boston would likely have to offer up Derrick White, a player like Grant Williams or Payton Pritchard, and a future draft pick in order to peak Utah’s interest.
At this point in the offseason right before training camp, this may not be the best move for the Celtics to make simply because it could mess up the chemistry they have built. However, Bojan Bogdanovic still remains a possible replacement for the Celtics as they search for answers after Gallinari’s prognosis.
