The Eastern Conference, as usual, will be wide open for any team to make a playoff push, and aside from the top tier teams, it will be a dog fight to see who gets the last three spots for the postseason.
The Atlanta Hawks are one of these teams, and with a young core led by Trae Young, they are ready to make an impact in the East. Not only did they make a good addition in the NBA Draft by selecting Onyeka Okongwu with the sixth overall pick, but now they have added one of the most underrated players in the league.
ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported the Hawks have signed free agent Danilo Gallinari to a three-year, $61.5M contract.
The Los Angeles Lakers are waiving guard Quinn Cook, sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium. Cook had a non-guaranteed season for 2020-21.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) November 19, 2020
Gallinari had a good year with the Thunder following two seasons with the Clippers. Despite having only 0.02% chance of making the playoffs at the beginning of the season, Danilo and Chris Paul led Oklahoma City to the promise land.
Throughout the 62 games he played with the Thunder, the NBA veteran recorded 18.7 points per contest, along with 5.2 rebounds and 1.9 assists.
Gallinari is not only joining All-Star Trae Young, but also will have a great young core to help develop, which includes DeAndre Hunter, Cam Reddish and Kevin Huerter.
The Hawks were one of the eight teams who were not invited to the season restart in Orlando. Atlanta finished the regular season with the fourth worst record in the league at 20-47.