Danilo Gallinari’s Boston chapter is one of those odd little NBA footnotes that somehow carries real weight. Four years ago, the Celtics brought him in as a notable addition, and then the whole thing vanished before it could start - his ACL tear landed just before training camp, adding another injury to a career already full of them.
Gallinari opened up about that reality in an exclusive interview with HoopsHype’s Cyro Asseo, and he didn’t shy away from the big-picture regret that shadows his career.
"Because of my injuries, there is a lot of what-if in my career. I don't know, I'm probably the biggest what-if guy in the history of the game, maybe.
But it's part of an NBA career. It happened to me, unfortunately, more than any other athlete probably, as far as injuries, but I don't think about it too much."
That’s a heavy line, but it fits the arc. Gallinari’s injuries really did keep interrupting what might have been a much bigger run, and Boston is one of the places where the question lingers loudest.
The Celtics had signed Gallinari and Malcolm Brogdon after reaching the NBA Finals because they needed more scoring from the second unit. On paper, the move made sense. Gallinari wasn’t at his peak anymore, but he still brought the kind of three-level scoring and floor spacing that can matter in a playoff series.
Boston ended up holding together fine without him. Still, it’s not hard to imagine how useful he could have been on the 2022-23 team.
The Celtics were close enough that a little extra offense might have changed the shape of everything. A Jayson Tatum ankle injury, plus Caleb Martin and Gabe Vincent regressions, are part of that conversation too, and Gallinari’s presence could have been enough to push Boston past Miami.
If that happened, there’s at least a case that he might have helped them against Denver in the NBA Finals as well.
Of course, he would have brought issues on defense. But the offensive lift might have outweighed that, especially for a team looking for exactly that kind of punch.
There’s also the ripple effect. If Gallinari had stayed healthy, some of Boston’s offseason choices might have looked different. But Brad Stevens has always been the kind of decision-maker who thinks ahead rather than back.
Gallinari’s injury also opened the door for Sam Hauser, and that matters here too. Hauser became one of the early success stories under Joe Mazzulla, but it’s fair to wonder whether that rise would have happened on the same timeline if Gallinari had been available.
Gallinari was the more established player. Hauser’s biggest calling card is his shooting, while Gallinari, even at 33, still offered that and more as a scorer. Boston probably would have still leaned on Hauser when it needed bodies, and maybe even used him to give Gallinari some rest, but his role would have been much smaller.
That doesn’t mean Hauser wouldn’t have found his way eventually. It just means the path might have looked very different. And the idea of the two of them sharing the floor is the sort of thing that makes you wonder what Boston might have gotten out of the pairing.
The saddest part is the simplest one: Gallinari grew up a Celtics fan and was genuinely excited to play for his childhood team on a title contender. He never got that shot.
Calling him the NBA’s biggest “what-if” is a strong claim, but his story makes the case. In Boston especially, it’s hard not to feel the loss of what never got the chance to happen.
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For Boston, the conversation is less about a sure thing than about another potential backcourt option if the right opening appears. Russells game draws some comparison to Anfernee Simons in the sense that he can create offense and handle pressure on the ball, but the bigger question is whether he would be a priority or simply a fallback if the Celtics decide they need one more veteran guard for the season ahead. [Read more 🡒]