After spending a three-team season in the 2023-24 campaign, Danilo Gallinari now seeks to play in the NBA for one last season with the hopes of making the most of his chances before he retires from the game for good. The Italian big man hopes that he could sign with an NBA team heading into the 2024-25 season.

Danilo Gallinari has played for a lot of basketball teams in his career, going for the likes of Casalpusterlengo, Olimpia Milano, and Nuova Pavia before finally declaring for the 2008 NBA Draft, where he was selected by the New York Knicks with the sixth overall pick. Gallinari would go on to play for the Denver Nuggets, Los Angeles Clippers, Atlanta Hawks, Washington Wizards, Detroit Pistons, and recently the Milwaukee Bucks.

While he did not have much accolades in the NBA, Gallinari has been one of the reliable big men in the game who has a talent to shoot the ball from almost anywhere in the court. It is also worth noting that Gallinari has seen multiple years in the NBA Playoffs, which has made him quite a reliable player to keep in any squad.

Hoping for a Final Push in the NBA

Gallinari spent a season with three teams last season, and while he is already keen to go for a retirement plan, the Italian big man seeks a chance to prove his worth one last time. At the age of 36, Gallinari is still a sharpshooter in his own right and is definitely expected to be a major contributor in scoring for any team that he will play for.

“A return to Italy? Not yet,” Gallinari responded when asked about the possibility of joining the EuroLeague. “There is still time for me in the market, anything can happen at any time. Miami? It’s not my time yet, there are other free agents and we’ll decide later. It could be anywhere, as long as it’s a competitive franchise.”

The Italian big man was seen as a massive addition for the Boston Celtics two years ago, but a torn ACL held him back from playing in the 2022-23 season. That prompted the Celtics to move on from him and pack him up in a deal that would send Kristaps Porzingis to the Celtics while Gallinari played for the Washington Wizards.

A Reliable Veteran Player

At the age of 36, it is worth noting that Gallinari is already far from his prime in the game. However, he did manage to play in a total of 49 games in the 2023-24 season, averaging career-lows with 5.7 points and 2.2 rebounds while shooting 43.7% from the field, including 32.3% from deep. He is still quite a reliable player in his own right, and he even played in the Trentino Basketball Cup with the Italian national team, where he was even named MVP.

For now, the 6-10 big man is expected to attract a few offers from teams with a desirable cap space in the coming weeks. With the NBA season coming in fast, it is easy to expect that there will be a lot of discussions as to how he can impact any team that will sign him moving forward.

But who knows, maybe Gallinari can even help a team reach a deeper run in the NBA Playoffs or even come up with a strong rally all the way to the NBA Finals. At this point, his final run in the NBA is going to be a promising journey to look out for.