I sure hope so...
Sorry Al, but with Kyrie and Hayward out there we are one legit star away from being a contender. Horford isn't that guy, but is taking up his cap space.
14 points and 7 rebounds on 44% or so shooting isn't going to cut it for $30M a year. Considering we now have Hayward and Morris replacing Crowder and Amir (who both ranks near the bottom of the team in usage rate) I can foresee Horford's touches (and hence, scoring numbers) to drop even further. I would not be surprised at all if Horford ends up averaging 12 / 6 this year at the center spot.
I can see Horford ending up as a 14/7/6 guy for a couple seasons. Horford may not put up immense stats but he is essential to Stevens system in a ball distribution and pick setting sense and still provides decent rim protection at 1.5 blocks per game. And...he is an essential part of the leadership and locker room pressence this team needs.
That said, Horford and the LA pick for another superstar sounds good to me.
I respectfully disagree on pretty much all counts.
1. Horford is not an aggressive offensive player by nature, and even last year (when we really needed the extra scoring) he tended to defer to less talented offensive players and preferred to play the role of the facilitator while being generally very lax on offense. I honestly don't think Horford wants that responsibility - I honestly think he prefers to play a complimentary role while the stars get the spotlight, and with two >20 PPG scorers on the team this year I expect he'll be even more willing to defer.
2. I do not believe Horford is at all essential to Boston's system. I think he fits very nicely in Boston's system and has the type of "jack of all trades" skill set that makes him a fantastic complimentary player, but I think there are other bigs in the NBA who can also offer a similarly versatile skill set for a lot less then $30M. I just don't think he contributes enough, consistently enough, to justify the huge chunk of payroll he is soaking up.
3. I'm not really sure where you are seeing his leadership, or locker room presence, that you speak of. I watched Horford last year, and rarely did I ever see even the slightest indication of him displaying leadership for the team. He always came across as the quiet guy who just wants to come in, do his job, and go home. I didn't see him giving pep-talks, or directing guys on the court, or motivating guys during timeouts. From what I could see it seemed like Avery Bradley, Isaiah Thomas and Jae Crowder showed far more leadership then Horford ever did. In fact that was probably one of my biggest criticisms of Horford last year - if nothing else I at least expected him to be a great veteran leader, and I just never saw it. He always looked like he was too nice, too laid back, too carefree. Like Brad Stevens on the court. I would have liked to see a bit more passion, fire, communication from him.