Danilo Gallinari plans to sign with the Celtics after the spurs officially released him, tweets Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski first reported (via Twitter) that signing with Boston was Gallinari’s preference, after Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report suggested on Thursday that he was leaning that way.
Gallinari is expected to receive a two-year contract worth $13MM with a player option on the second season, sources tell Italian basketball writer Davide Chinellato (twitter link). Boston will presumably use its taxpayer mid-level exception to complete the signing.
The 33-year-old forward, who spent the past two seasons with Atlanta, was sent to San Antonio this week in the Dejounte Murray trade He agreed to push back the guarantee date on his $21.45MM contract for next season to help accommodate the deal and will likely receive a partial guarantee of about $10-11MM from the Spurs before being let go.
Gallinari will provide Boston with a veteran shooter who can play several positions. He has connected at 38.1% from three-point range during his career and averaged 11.7 points and 4.7 rebounds with the Hawks last season.
Injuries plagued Gallinari early in his career, but he has been relatively healthy over the past four seasons, playing 68, 62, 51 and 66 games.
The Bulls were also reportedly in the running for Gallinari.