Boston Celtics: 10x All-Star among CB’s Danilo Gallinari replacement signings

The news that the Boston Celtics’ taxpayer’s MLE addition, Danilo Gallinari, tore his left meniscus while playing for Italy in a FIBA World Cup qualifying game Saturday is one that rocked the world of Cs fans who didn’t think there’d be any late-August injury drama to deal with.

Gallinari went down after a bounce pass in the lane while playing against Georgia (the Baltic nation) in Brescia, Italy. He hobbled over to the sideline, holding the back of the knee as trainers rushed to his aid, and gave fans a heart attack before good injury news came on Sunday. As Shams Charania reported, there was no ACL or ligament damage per the Boston Celtics training staff. Charania called it a ‘best case’ for the Cs forward after suffering the scary non-contact injury two days ago.

Gallinari’s injury is certainly not well-timed with training camp starting in a month’s time, but his loss isn’t the end of the world in a bubble. Finding a replacement–which may not even be the right word since there are three extra roster spots the Celtics haven’t filled yet–shouldn’t be impossible considering the recent opening back up of the free agent market with the Kevin Durant melodrama now over.

Speaking of melodrama, 19-year-veteran Carmelo Anthony was recently listed by CelticsBlog’s Keith Smith as a potential external addition in a piece aimed at finding Boston’s options in the absence of Gallinari:

"“Carmelo Anthony is the free agent who can most immediately replace what Boston will miss while Gallinari is out. Anthony can still score off the bounce and can still hurt mismatches on post-ups. Anthony isn’t quite as reliable as Gallinari as a shooter, but he’s not a bad one either.”“Defensively, Anthony is probably on par with Gallinari. Neither is being paid to defend anyone. Both are guys the coaching staff will scheme around and help. On the plus side, Anthony remains a pretty solid defensive rebounder.”"

Other potential Danilo Gallinari replacement options for the Boston Celtics

Keith Smith listed multiple targets in his piece, though none have the accolades of a 10x All-Star like Carmelo Anthony. Despite Anthony’s reputation-defacing New York Knicks run, which was followed by two more nightmarish PR stints with the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Houston Rockets, he has resurrected his career with the Portland Trail Blazers and Los Angeles Lakers.

Jake Layman, Josh Jackson, Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot, Jabari Parker, and the recently-signed Yuta Watanabe (by the Brooklyn Nets) were the less exciting options named by Smith for the Boston Celtics. Every single available option is likely to be had at the minimum, but in reality, Anthony is the only one with a hypothetical chance to contribute once Gallinari returns.