Celtics Reportedly Express Interest in Danilo Gallinari and T.J. Warren; Is Either Worth the Cost?

Either of these forwards would give the Celtics with size and scoring off the bench.

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It's abundantly clear the Celtics need more offensive production from their second unit. In the regular season, Boston's bench ranked in the bottom five in points per game, averaging 30.2 per contest. In the playoffs, they ranked 14th out of 16 teams, providing only 22.5 points, according to NBA.com.

It was most evident in the NBA Finals as the Warriors' second unit outscored the Celtics' bench 25.7 to 11.7 in the last three games, per NBA.com.

Now, as Boston looks to acquire a veteran wing who it can trust to provide points off the bench, according to Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report, the Celtics are pursuing Danilo Gallinari and T.J. Warren, among others.

Fischer also notes that with P.J. Tucker expected to join the Sixers, the belief is the Heat will express interest in Gallinari.

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Gallinari, a 13-year veteran, is a career 15.6 points per game scorer. Last season, his second one in a crowded Hawks rotation, he generated 11.7 points in 66 games while logging 25.3 minutes per contest. He shot only 43.4 percent from the field, on par with his career 42.8 field goal percentage, but he converted his 4.5 three-point attempts at a 38.1 percent clip.

At six-foot-ten, Gallinari does most of his damage shooting over defenders off the catch, whether that's beyond the arc or getting the ball closer to the rim with his back to the basket, then facing up.

His size also allows him to step into threes off the dribble, and while he's not one to blow by defenders, he's crafty enough to get to the rim.

Gallinari, who turns 34 in August, is on an expiring three-year, $61.4 million contract that will pay him $21.5 million this coming season, per Spotrac.

That's more than the Celtics can fit into their $17.1 million trade exception, so acquiring him would mean matching salaries in a deal with Atlanta. The Celtics can make that happen, but acquiring Gallinari for a package that includes Grant Williams and Aaron Nesmith isn't worth the cost, at least not in this author's humble opinion.

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When it comes to T.J. Warren, the concern would be his durability. Due to a left foot injury, the seven-year veteran didn't play last season and only appeared in four games in 2020-21.

However, when healthy, Warren can get counted on to produce points. He's a career 15.5 point per game scorer who averaged at least 18 from 2017-18-2019-20.

He's not a high-volume three-point shooter, but he's evolved into a three-level scorer. In 2019-20, he generated 19.8 points per contest, cashing in on 53.6 percent of his field-goal attempts, including 40.3 percent of his 3.4 shots from beyond the arc.

Warren, who turns 29 in September, is a free agent coming off a campaign where he earned $12.7 million, per Spotrac. He'll likely sign for more than the $6.5 million taxpayer mid-level exception, but Boston's interest in the six-foot-eight scoring wing isn't a surprise.

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