NBA insider reveals key reason Danilo Gallinari chose to sign with Milwaukee Bucks

Early Thursday, the "Pat Bev Pod," the podcast hosted by Patrick Beverley, reported that forward Danilo Gallinari was pondering signing with either the Milwaukee Bucks or LA Clippers.

Beverley may have a future in the insider industry, as just hours later, that came true. According to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, Gallinari has chosen to sign with the Bucks. Wojnarowski added that the driving factor in Gallinari deciding to head to Milwaukee was the opportunity to once again play a role under Doc Rivers, his former head coach.

NBA insider reveals key reason Danilo Gallinari chose to sign with Milwaukee Bucks

Gallinari is now the second player the Bucks have brought in mid-season who has experience playing under Rivers, with Beverley being the first. Familiarity always helps, especially when joining a team at any point mid-season, where there will be little time to gel and build chemistry. Knowing people in the arena like Rivers and Beverley could help him get up to speed quicker.

Adding Gallinari will not change everything across the NBA landscape, but it's a nice signing for the Milwaukee Bucks. The team could have used another bigger body for depth in the frontcourt after moving Robin Lopez at the trade deadline, and the 6-foot-10 Gallinari will give them that. At the bare minimum, he's a nice insurance piece.

In stints with the Washington Wizards and Detroit Pistons this season, Gallinari saw 14.8 minutes of playing time per game, the second-fewest of his lengthy career. Coming off an ACL injury that forced him to miss all of last year, the forward has been working his way back, but it has been a slow climb.

While it's unclear how he'll fit into Rivers' rotations, Gallinari could be a useful sparkplug. He's always been a nice player offensively, providing quality scoring and perimeter shooting. When Milwaukee's bench is struggling to put points on the board, perhaps they could give Gallinari some action in an attempt to get the wheels turning.

One area where Gallinari will not help the Bucks is on defense. Even before the injury, he was never known as a strong defender, which caused many to side-eye this signing. Should the Bucks have gone after a defender to shore up their defense? Perhaps, but the market is quite bare right now. Gallinari was arguably the best name available right now, so the Milwaukee Bucks pounced.

Ultimately, this move doesn't help Milwaukee defensively, and adding a 35-year-old doesn't make them any younger, but this could be a low-risk move to help on offense while providing key depth.

Stay tuned for more Milwaukee Bucks analysis.