Trae Young is getting some scoring help. A forward who gets buckets will be leaving Oklahoma City and heading to Atlanta. Here’s the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on the news:
The Hawks are finalizing a deal with unrestricted free agent Danilo Gallinari, the AJC has confirmed.
Gallinari, 32, averaged 18.7 points and 5.2 rebounds with the Thunder last season and shot 40.5% from 3-point range. The Hawks were the worst 3-point shooting team in the league last season (33.3%), and it’s one of the major problems they needed to address heading into 2020-21.
The move greatly bolsters the Hawks’ offense as they aim to go from a 20-47 team to the playoffs the very next season. Gallinari, a forward, also brings significant experience to a young roster. This will be his 13th season in the NBA, and he started 62 games and was a major contributor for a Thunder team that took the Rockets to seven games before falling just short in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs. ESPN first reported the three-year, $61.5 million contract.