Al Horford has the 23rd highest contract for the upcoming season, tied with Nikola Vucevic. He probably is a bit worse than that as a player, but I'd say he should still have top 30ish impact when accounting for everything and he obviously is making more than anyone on a rookie scale contract.
In 2020 without accounting for any new money (like say Anthony Davis), he has the 38th highest contract. Again that doesn't seem that far off from where you would expect him to be especially without the rookie scale contracts.
In 2021 he is sitting at 28th. By the time that season rolls around though he will be much lower than that after 2 more summers of new contracts.
In 2022 (with all incentives), he is at 22nd. That will obviously be much lower by the time the season rolls around, especially if he doesn't hit the incentives.
In other words, Horford is paid about where you would expect based on his perceived production. This just seems like a case of not fully grasping just how much money players are making these days. Everyone makes a ton of money.
Or if other people want to be equally as condescending as you we could just say this seems to be you not realizing how limited Horford is going to be at 33 and you fail to grasp the concept of aging? Maybe the board is better if you make the comments without your opinion of what people are grasping?
I would not have Horford close to 30 next year. He was not even In The conversation for being an all star in the east. He wouldn’t have been even whispered for conversation in the west. He also was significantly worse last year than the year prior and was noticeably banged up with concerns about his knee.
Strange in early June you were singing Horford's praises and saying things like if the C's acquired Davis the C's would have the best front court in the league. Hands down. Odd how he leaves the Celtics and becomes terrible, ages quickly, and isn't worth crap. And I'm well aware that Davis is a great player, but how much better is Davis than Embiid (if at all)? If Davis, Horford, and Hayward would have been the best front court in the league why isn't Embiid, Horford, and Harris? And again that was you in June of this year after the season.
I do think Harris and embiid and Horford could be the best frontcourt in the league. It is competitive. I do think Davis is better than embiid by a decent amount of healthy. Really weird deflection. What does that have to do with Horford making 28 million dollars. If you have a near all star in Harris, an mvp candidate and an above average starter in Horford does that mean you should overpay the above average starter? Really strange response.
Also to be clear I think Horford will still be solid next year. If it was one year at 28 million I would obviously not think it was terrible. The 85 for 3 guaranteed for the subsequent seasons is where it really becomes a problem. Since I have answered your question can you answer how Horford is a top 30 player next year and after? I made a list
Lots of players are overpaid. Overpaying for an above average starter who can help you win a championship isn't bad. Assuming the Sixers ownership is willing to pay the tax, I don't see how Horford's longer deal hurts them much. With Embiid, Harris and Simmons on their deals, they wouldn't have cap space even if Horford was on a 1 year deal.
If you think them overpaying for Horford was a bad move, what should they have done instead? If they'd offered him less, he'd probably still be a Celtic.
Was butler leaving no matter what? I had a hard time determining if they ever offered him the full max. I saw a lot of conflicting reports. I certainly liked their team more with Harris and butler than Harris and Horford. I also don’t think Horford would still be a celtic, he would probably be a maverick. But this is all based on incomplete reporting
I've seen a whole bunch of different rumors including they didn't even offer him the 4yr/Max and they offered him the 5yr/Max but he'd only re-sign if they traded Simmons. I tend to think both sides decided he woukd be better off elsewhere and it worked out for the Sixers that it was Miami. Miami tried to trade for Butler when the Sixers got him so I think there was already mutual interest.
Would keeping Harris and Butler have actually been better? Would Harris have even re-signed if Butler did? Would Simmons have signed the extension if Butler has re-signed? Would he have demanded a trade? If they did re-sign Butler and Harris, it seems like they would have needed to re-sign Redick.
They'd be much worse defensively. They'd be in a worse financial situation. Probably a tax team this season. They'd be significantly older with two players at or past their peak. The Butler fit with Simmons was poor and Butler also limited Harris. How well would Butler's game have aged? Would Butler have been able to get through 5 years without causing problems?
Look at it this way, going into last season their starting lineup was Simmons, Redick, Covington, Saric and Embiid. Now their starting lineup is Simmons, Richardson, Harris, Horford and Embiid. That's the difference between a pretender and an actual contender.