BURNING QUESTION: Who Should the Celtics Look To Fill the Void Left By Gallinari's injury?

Bringing in professional scorer Carmelo Anthony is an option, but Boston - for now at least - seems more interested in giving the first crack to a player already on the payroll.

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Depending on your report of preference, the Boston Celtics are interested in Carmelo Anthony or they're not.

With or without Melo, the Celtics will likely look from within to find someone to fill the void left by Danilo Gallinari's knee injury which is expected to keep him sidelined for most if not all of this upcoming regular season.

Melo was indeed part of the Los Angeles Lakers team last year that will be remembered as one of the league's biggest underachievers, but the team's overall struggles certainly weren't a product of Melo not doing what Melo has done for years which is get buckets in bunches based on the minutes he has played.

While he averaged a career-low 13.3 points per game last year, he did so while playing just 26.0 minutes per game.

But when factoring what will likely be a limited role for Melo in Boston along with the tax-paying implications signing him would bring, there's a legit question as to whether Boston would get enough bang for its buck.

And that's where Grant Williams comes in.

There's certainly an element of mystery as to what Boston can realistically expect from Williams who is eligible for a contract extension before the start of this season.

While Williams' camp and the Celtics have had ongoing conversations, Gallinari's injury may very well be a blessing in disguise for Williams who will be the first to get a shot at securing the minutes that would have gone to Gallinari.

As we saw last season, Williams had stretches in which he was one of the more impactful players off the Celtics bench or a last-minute, fill-in for Al Horford or Robert Williams III.

But with more experience and a clear need with Gallinari out, Williams will get a shot at building off many of the things he did well last season.

In 77 games last season, Williams averaged 7.8 points per game while shooting 47.5 percent from the field and 41.1 percent from 3-point range along with 90.5 percent from the free throw line - all career highs.

There was a point in the season when Williams was flirting with a possible 50/40/90 season which would have made Williams just the second Boston Celtics player (Larry Bird, 1986 and 1987) to ever shoot at least 50 percent from the field, 40 percent from 3-point range and 90 percent from the free throw line.

Boston will give some thought to 6-8 Sam Hauser who is a better scorer than Williams but doesn't defend or rebound nearly as well.

The Celtics can also go with more small-ball lineups, with the clear caveat being the potential problems in the paint and on the boards.

For now, there are no clear-cut solutions to filling the void that will exist with Gallinari out.

Fortunately for Boston, they have an ample number of options in-house as well as externally if they choose to go that route, which will keep them in the thick of things for yet another run towards the NBA Finals.