By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
The Clippers don’t have the salary-cap space to sign Gallinari, but are progressing on acquiring him through a three-way trade with the Denver Nuggets and Atlanta Hawks, league sources said to ESPN.
The Clippers will send Jamal Crawford, Diamond Stone and a future first-round pick — possibly the 2018 pick recently acquired via Houston — to the Hawks, league sources said. Denver is expected to receive draft compensation for facilitating the deal with Gallinari, who played the past six seasons for the Nuggets.
The proposed deal is poised to move the Clippers’ payroll to $110.4 million in 2017-18, a salary figure based upon 10 players under guaranteed contracts. The Clippers will move into the financially punitive repeater tax if the team’s salary rises over $119 million.
The Clippers sold Gallinari, 28, on a frontcourt that includes him and All-Stars Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan. Gallinari could’ve waited until Gordon Hayward made his decision, expected on Tuesday, and had the opportunity to sign with the Boston Celtics if Hayward passed on them. Nevertheless, Gallinari passed and moved in the past 24 hours toward a deal with the Clippers.