It's actually pretty easy to forget that Danilo Gallinari was once affiliated with the Boston Celtics. It was only four years ago that he was a prized addition, but not many remember that because he tore his ACL just before training camp. Even worse is that can be added to the long list of injuries that interfered with his career.
Gallinari recently reflected on this in an exclusive interview with HoopsHype's Cyro Asseo, where he discussed how he was a player who could have done so much more had it not been for his injuries.
"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."
Bigger NBA legends had similar and arguably worse fates than Gallinari did due to injuries, but he's not wrong in the fact that the injuries he had interfered with his career.
And yes, it's fair to speculate how much different things would have been in Boston if he hadn't gotten hurt before he was about to play for them.
Would Boston have won the title?
The Celtics added Gallinari and Malcolm Brogdon after their run to the NBA Finals because they lacked scoring in the second unit. It made a whole lot of sense to add those two. Gallinari was declining, but was still an excellent three-level scorer who could space the floor.
Boston did just fine without Gallo. In fact, they barely skipped a beat, but on paper, his kind of presence could have been a difference-maker on the 2022-23 team. The fact that they were arguably a Jayson Tatum ankle injury, along with Caleb Martin and Gabe Vincent regressions, away from making the finals, it's fair to argue Gallinari may have made all the difference.
Defensively, Gallinari would have hurt on that end, but how much he would have helped offensively could have been all they needed to beat Miami, and if all continued to go well, could have been enough for them to beat Denver in the NBA Finals.
That also could have changed a lot of the decisions they made that offseason, but Brad Stevens who always thinks forward, not backward.
Where would Sam Hauser be right now?
The biggest upside to Gallinari's injury when it happened was that it paved the way for Sam Hauser to prove himself in his place. Hauser was one of the first success stories under Joe Mazzulla, but it's fair to say it might not have happened when it did if Gallinari had been healthy.
It's obvious but necessary to point out that Gallo was the more proven option between the two. Hauser's calling card is a sharpshooter, but even at 33, Gallinari was both that and a pure scorer. Boston probably would have called Hauser's name when they were undermanned - maybe even play if they wanted to conserve Gallo - but his role would have been greatly subsidized.
Maybe Hauser would have sprouted down the line, and it's not like anyone's complaining about how well he's done since Boston gave him the role he's never lost four years later. More than anything else, it's a shame we didn't get to see what kind of damage he and Gallinari could have done together.
The most tragic part about this whole ordeal was that Gallinari grew up a Celtics fan and was very much looking forward to playing for his childhood team and for a title contender, but he never got that chance.
Saying he's the NBA's greatest "what-if" guy is certainly bold, but that doesn't erase how tragic Gallinari's story was. Especially in Boston.
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