Danilo Gallinari Is On The Move

Where is veteran Danilo Gallinari going to land next season? 

📍 Where to next? pic.twitter.com/oWxB7npu3S

— DANILO GALLINARI (@gallinari8888) October 20, 2020

The injury prone combo forward can be a force when he plays, but needs to stay healthy for a full season - something he hasn't done since the 2009-10 season when he played 81 games, his 2nd year in the league.   

Apparently, Danilo doesn't care for the comments about his inability to stay on the court. In a recent interview, he was quoted saying: 

"I’ve had small injuries that everyone has. I only had two big injuries, which was the back my first year and the ACL back in 2013 when I was in Denver. I honestly don’t understand why I have this injury-prone stigma on my shoulders, but it’s just not true. It’s not facts. The facts are different. I’m very healthy, and I’ve been playing seasons with no problems playing almost every game."

Unfortunately for Danilo, he's played in only 611 of his team's 984 games over 12 seasons - not exactly iron man-type of stuff. With all that being said, he does have the ability to dominate stretches of games, as evidenced here and here. The big Italian will be a significant player on the open market, as he has the highly coveted skills to space the floor out as a stretch five - something every team in the association is looking for. Below are a few teams that could potentially pay for the services of Gallo next year.

• LA Lakers - Gallo wants to win a championship. What better place to start than with the defending champs? He won't be able to sign for a huge deal, but he'll get the chance to hit wide open 3's while getting fed by LeBron James all year. His lack of defensive skills could be hidden well within the Lakers schemes, allowing him to concentrate on knocking down jumpers in the pick and pop game. 
• Miami Heat - Pat Riley is a fan, and even tried to pick him up at the trade deadline this past season. Ultimately the deal fell through and the Heat went with Andre Iguodala and Jae Crowder. Could Miami try and double dip? With Jimmy Butler and Tyler Herro creating, that could leave a lot of open corner 3's available. As with the Lakers, he would have to take a drastic pay cut (think mid-level exception, around $9M/year) in order to chase the championship.
• Milwaukee Bucks - If Gallo is interested in the mid-level deal, teaming up with the Greek Freak and the Bucks in Milwaukee could be interesting. The Bucks could offer a short-term deal in order to satisfy the win-now narrative, and it would flexibility, should Giannis jump ship after next year. 
• Wildcard: New York Knicks - Expect anything from a James Dolan-led organization. They might decide to drop their pants for Danilo, and he might oblige. 

Photo Credit: Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire