NBA Trade Rumors: Boston Celtics Still Looking To Tinker With Roster, Talking With Denver Nuggets About Danilo Gallinari
The Boston Celtics have made several moves this offseason to upgrade their roster and are apparently not done.
The Boston Herald is reporting that the Celtics have spoken to the Denver Nuggets about a trade for Danilo Gallinari. The talks apparently didn’t get anywhere, though, and speculation is that it is something to keep an eye on.
Hearing varying reports about Gallinari's availability. Some connected say DEN not looking to move him; others say it's open to discussion.
— Steve Bulpett (@SteveBHoop) July 13, 2015
Pro Basketball Talk reported a few weeks ago that there is no doubt Gallinari is also on the trading block along with power forward Kenneth Faried and point guard Ty Lawson.
Boston will be at their 15-man roster limit once they officially sign their draft picks and trade for David Lee, but the Celtics would like to add another shooter. This offseason, the Celtics drafted guards Terry Rozier and R.J. Hunter along with power forward Jordan Mickey. The C’s also have traded for power forward/center Lee (in exchange for Gerald Wallace and either Chris Babb or Paul Pressey) and signed three free agents — power forward Amir Johnson (Toronto), power forward Jonas Jerebko (re-signed), and small forward Jae Crowder (re-signed).
PG Marcus Smart PG/SG Avery Bradley, SG Evan Turner, PG Isaiah Thomas, C Kelly Olynyk, PF Jared Sullinger, SG James Young, and C Tyler Zeller currently round out the Celtics roster. Babb and Pressey have nonguaranteed contracts with the Celtics and are expected to be waived unless they are packaged in a trade, ESPN’s Peter Forsberg reports. In addition, 2015 second round selection Marcus Thornton is expected to play in the D-League or oversees next season.
Denver currently has 14 players on their roster with the recent signing of free agents Will Barton, Wilson Chandler, Nikola Jokic, and Jameer Nelson. The Nuggets also didn’t waive guard Randy Foye, meaning his contract for the upcoming season is now guaranteed. Denver has a room exception to add a 15th player.
Gallinari is entering the final year of his contract and will make $11.5 million this upcoming season. The six-foot-10 small forward is a outstanding scorer that shoots the ball well from beyond the arc — Gallinari shoots 36.7 percent from beyond the arc for his career. He possesses good handles but is a below average rebounder and poor defender.
Gallinari has dealt with injuries throughout his career. He appeared in 57 games last year after returning from an ACL injury that cost him the entire 2013-14 season. Gallinari averaged 12.4 points a game in 2014-15 while shooting a career-worst 40.1% from the field. More than half his shots were three-point attempts and he made 35.5 percent of those attempts. Gallinari also averaged 3.7 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 24.2 minutes of action.
Gallinari, however, started to look like his old self towards the end of last season — averaging 19 points and grabbing five boards a game while shooting 39.1 percent from beyond the arc in his last 19 games.
[Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images]
