Signed to be the balance that the Celtics demand so much in the last two years, Boston’s instability suggests that the bet on Al Horford has been disappointing. Individually, he’s still a good player, capable of making big decisions on both ends of the floor. But the years of solving problems with his mere presence are over. For this reason, the Celtics will try to extract value from his transfer before it is too late.
Jared Weiss reveals in The Athletic that Brad Stevens is already looking for interested buyers in Horford. Also added to the list of possible sales are Josh Richardson and Dennis Schröder. All purchased in the past off-season. The Celtics are barely $800,000 above the luxury tax, and any of these exits would mean giving up affordable sports value in order to save on fees.
Horford has two years left on his contract, and while next season’s salary is only partially guaranteed, he still has a minimum of $41 million to collect. This surely means that Stevens will have to give something in return to get rid of such a sum of money and absorb some piece that he would not like. Perhaps the Dominican center continues to have value for good teams, but I would extract that someone was willing to give in return a player of starting caliber like what Horford was called to be on his return to the Celtics.
(Cover photo by Maddie Malhotra/Getty Images)
