Danilo Gallinari Sends Pointed Message to Celtics

Danilo Gallinari turned down more lucrative offers last summer to live out his dream of playing for the Celtics, but an ACL injury prevented that from coming to fruition.

Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

Danilo Gallinari turned down more lucrative offers elsewhere last summer to join the Celtics. At the introductory press conference for him and Malcolm Brogdon, he shared he grew up loving the franchise, watching the big three of Larry Bird, Kevin Mchale, and Robert Parish with his father in Italy.

While it's not the old Boston Garden, where that Hall of Fame trio led the Celtics to three championships, when asked about playing home games at TD Garden, a smiling Gallinari responded, "I think about it. I had dreams about it, and I can't wait until it's reality and to start the season and experience that as a Boston Celtics player."

Unfortunately, an ACL injury suffered while playing for the Italian National Team in a FIBA World Cup Qualifier last summer prevented him from living out that dream and helping Boston compete for Banner 18.

The Celtics then explored the possibility of packaging him and Payton Pritchard to acquire center Jakob Poeltl at the trade deadline. The latter instead went from the Spurs to the Raptors.

But after remaining with Boston through a season that he never participated in and exercising his $6.8 million player option, the Celtics traded the 13-year veteran to the Wizards in the three-team deal in which they acquired Kristaps Porzingis and parted with Marcus Smart, who joined Ja Morant on the Grizzlies.

Rather than buying him out of his contract, Washington plans to keep Gallinari, a sensible move that could lead to trading him for an asset or two.

The soon-to-be 35-year-old, who's been in the league for over a decade, understands how the business works, but with his hopes of suiting up for the C's dashed, as he works to prove himself after his ACL tear and missing the 2022-23 campaign, Gallinari has revenge on his mind.

"I can't wait to play against Boston," he stated on his A Cresta Alta podcast. "When the schedule will be unveiled, I'll put an X on the games we will play at Boston against the Celtics."

In 29 matchups against the C's, Gallinari, who's generated multiple 20-plus-point performances, averages 15.1 points and 4.6 rebounds.

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