Fansided

1 contract every NBA team would want back

By Ian Levy

Mar 28, 2023; San Francisco, California, USA; Golden State Warriors guard Jordan Poole (3) flexes after a play against the New Orleans Pelicans during the fourth quarter at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 28, 2023; San Francisco, California, USA; Golden State Warriors guard Jordan Poole (3) flexes after a play against the New Orleans Pelicans during the fourth quarter at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports /
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BOLOGNA, ITALY – AUGUST 12: Danilo Gallinari #8 of Italy looks on during the basketball International Friendly match between Italy and France at Unipol Arena on August 12, 2022 in Bologna, Italy. (Photo by Giuseppe Cottini/Getty Images)
BOLOGNA, ITALY – AUGUST 12: Danilo Gallinari #8 of Italy looks on during the basketball International Friendly match between Italy and France at Unipol Arena on August 12, 2022 in Bologna, Italy. (Photo by Giuseppe Cottini/Getty Images) /

Boston Celtics: Danilo Gallinari

There’s now way the Celtics could have known Danilo Gallinari would tear his ACL less than two months after they signed him to a two-year, $13.3 million contract last summer. At the time, it looked like an absolute steal but ended up as a $6 million investment in a player who never played a minute for them.

The Celtics did get some value from his contract, rolling it into the recent trade with the Wizards that brought back Kristaps Porzingis. Gallinari was reportedly looking forward to returning to the Celtics and could have been a difference-maker this season, but the chance to get Porzingis was apparently too good for the Celtics to pass up. That all means the Celtics might not take a do-over on the Gallinari contract right now, but in the middle of the postseason as they struggled to stay alive against the Miami Heat they probably would have thought differently.

At that price range, they could have theoretically ended up with alternatives like JaMychal Green, Mike Muscala, Juan Tuscano-Anderson, Lonnie Walker IV, Bruce Brown, Taurean Prince or Donte DiVincenzo. None of those players, on their own, could have changed how last season ended for the Celtics. But at least they would have had one more experienced and available rotation player to turn to.

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