Danilo Galinari: I want to play this season

[Smartacus]

Danilo Gallinari tore his left ACL in early-September while playing for Italy in a FIBA World Cup qualifier. It's expected that Gallinari will miss the entirety of his first season with the Boston Celtics. However, the veteran forward isn't giving up on playing this season.

“My mind-set is that I want to play, and that I’m going to play at the end of the season,” Gallinari said. “I want to play in the playoffs. So that’s the mind-set that helps me every day get better and motivates me even more.”

Returns from ACL tears generally take up to one year. Danny Green is going to return to the Memphis Grizzlies in about eight months, while Joe Ingles of the Milwaukee Bucks returned in about 11 months. As an older player, Gallinari could push to be back earlier, as he doesn't have a remaining 10-plus years of his career to protect.

In recent weeks, Gallinari has done his rehab around the Celtics, even traveling for road games. The possibility of getting on the court with them before the season ends is helping to keep him motivated during rehab.

“My mind-set is there is definitely a chance,” Gallinari said. “So, when I think about the season, it’s definitely not a lost season for me. So, we’ll see. That’s the mind-set that helps me and pushes me to get better every day. If it happens, it’s going to be great. If it doesn’t, I’m looking forward to next season.”

https://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/270158/Danilo-Gallinari-Hopes-To-Play-This-Season

I for one would love to see it. I think Gallo would be a huge addition to this team come playoff time and the only shame is that he can't come back sooner. If he cant, it sounds like he has the right mindset for coming back strong next season.

[Donoghus]

I'd love to see him come back too but, man, that'd be a helluva recovery. 

[Roy H.]

The various things I've read recently suggest that Gallinari would like to play this year, but that it's not a particularly realistic goal.

[ChillyWilly]

Hes a very competitive player and you can see it when hes on the bench that he feels hes the difference maker for us.

[liam]

Sounds like he doesn't want to get traded.

[footey]

Sounds like he doesn't want to get traded.

I think it is unlikely he will be traded, for a couple of reasons.

He is likely to opt in to his second year, and as a salary filler in a trade, that doesn't appeal to most teams (who prefer expiring contracts for filler)

Also I think the Celtics really feel he will provide a useful role, not this year, but next year.  If he were healthy right now, I think we would have a better record. He'd have taken most of Hauser's minutes, and some of Grant's.

[SparzWizard]

I hope he does come back by April or May, but that's just wishful thinking.

[Big333223]

It'd be pretty cool to have him for 8 minutes a game when they need a little more size during the playoffs.

I'm not going to hold my breath but at that kind of workload maybe it'll happen.

[Phantom255x]

The thing is, even if he comes back I just imagine opposing teams are gonna go after him on defense. He might still be sluggish/not up to game speed and teams will try to exploit that against him when he's defending

But no doubt his potential scoring off the bench would be nice, even if for just 8-10 minutes a night

[Goldstar88]

The thing is, even if he comes back I just imagine opposing teams are gonna go after him on defense. He might still be sluggish/not up to game speed and teams will try to exploit that against him when he's defending

But no doubt his potential scoring off the bench would be nice, even if for just 8-10 minutes a night

This is what I worried about when he signed here. Gallinari not a good defender to begin with. Feel like he’s going to be too slow to cover most power forwards and not strong enough to deal with centers. Never liked this signing.

[GreenlyGreeny]

The thing is, even if he comes back I just imagine opposing teams are gonna go after him on defense. He might still be sluggish/not up to game speed and teams will try to exploit that against him when he's defending

But no doubt his potential scoring off the bench would be nice, even if for just 8-10 minutes a night

This is what I worried about when he signed here. Gallinari not a good defender to begin with. Feel like he’s going to be too slow to cover most power forwards and not strong enough to deal with centers. Never liked this signing.

This is a good take and a real concern. I liked the signing because he was the best MLE available and he could provide an offensive spark. This may alleviate your concern somewhat, but I suspect the goal will always be to only send out Gallo when a team sends out a weak offensive forward that Gallo can actually defend. Otherwise, can’t see why Brad/Ime signed the guy.

In terms of Gallo wanting to play this year—yeah, he wants that just like I want a shoebox full of 100 dollar bills, but it’s not happening.