What do we do with Horford next season?

[Roy H.]

He’s owed $26.5 million, but only $14.5 million is guaranteed.

Our options seem to be:

1. Trade him.  Only guaranteed salary counts for matching purposes;

2.  Keep him at $26.5 million;

3.  Waive him, have $14.5 million in “dead cap”, and let him leave

4.  Waive him, have $14.5 million in dead cap, and resign him to a smaller contract with Bird rights;

5.  Waive and stretch him, having $4.83 million in dead cap the next three seasons.  We couldn’t resign him.

Note:  his salary is guaranteed to $19.5 million if we make the Finals, and fully guaranteed if we win a title.

[Who]

Note:  his salary is guaranteed to $19.5 million if we make the Finals, and fully guaranteed if we win a title.

That is not inconceivable.


(1) Brooklyn are super talented but have injury issues, Kyrie's vaccine issues and have some issues with just making the playoffs. Super talented but vulnerable.

(2) Philly have some fit questions. Does Harden gel with Embiid? Do Maxey and Harden work well together? Does Thybulle fit next to Harden & Embiid? And how much do they miss Seth Curry's lethal shooting? Again, talented but vulnerable.

(3) Milwaukee look the most secure of the top teams in the East but the Celtics have matched up well with them this season and could cause them problems in a playoff series.

(4) Miami has looked impressive in spurts but only in spurts. Maybe they come together for the playoffs, maybe not. Either way Boston is close enough to them to have no fear of them.


Kinda crazy to think but there could be a real possibility open here.

[perks-a-beast]

Can you explain what dead cap is?

So if the Celtics went with option 3 and waived him and had the 14.5 mill in dead cap, that means they could sign a free agent for up to 14.5 mill a year?

[Who]

Option 1 -- Trade Horford

Package Horford and a bunch of picks for a 3rd star.

We have the rest of the team in place. Rob Williams, Derrick White and Marcus Smart would give us one of the strongest teams in the league 4-6. A legit Big Three plus high level glue guys. Then round out the bench. Theis, Grant Williams are steps in that direction.

Well positioned to become an elite team. The final move is needed and trading Horford is that move.

[Goldstar88]

Really depends on how the C’s fair in the playoffs. If they don’t do well, would try to move him in the off-season. If they do well, might be best to keep him. He’s been solid this year, minus the 3pt shooting.

[smokeablount]

He’s not worth 26.5M but he’s part of a top 3 starting lineup in the NBA and is important to our league best defense. A few weeks ago I was sure he’d be gone but now it’s a legit question.

If you can package him and picks for a 3rd star who fits the team you definitely do it. If you strongly believe White can replace him as a starter and the D doesn’t fall off then I think he’s movable. But otherwise, depending on how this year goes. I think you might be better served keeping him than just cutting him loose.

[Roy H.]

Can you explain what dead cap is?

So if the Celtics went with option 3 and waived him and had the 14.5 mill in dead cap, that means they could sign a free agent for up to 14.5 mill a year?

No, dead cap is salary that counts against our cap but which can’t be traded.  Usually, the player is no longer with the team, but in the case of Horford we’d still be allowed to sign him to a new deal.  The old, waived contract still counts, though.

[Celtics2021]

Can you explain what dead cap is?

So if the Celtics went with option 3 and waived him and had the 14.5 mill in dead cap, that means they could sign a free agent for up to 14.5 mill a year?

No, it means there’s $14.5 million taking up cap/tax space that can’t be traded.  It just stays.

[Who]

If you can't trade him, I say keep him.

You have to eat the $14.5m anyway. It will cost MLE money to replace him which is pretty much the difference remaining ($12mil). Not much to be gained by waiving him.

[footey]

There is no way we keep Al Horford next season at $26.5 mm.  I misunderstood how the guaranteed portion worked. It thought that as long as we didn't make the finals, we could keep him at pay him at the guaranteed $14.5 mm portion, which would be palatable if he continued to start. But if our only choices are as outlined by Roy, there is no way we would be able to keep him.  We would either trade him or work on a buyout or stretch him.

Now the Theis trade makes more  sense; he would basically replace Al next year in a similar role.

[nickagneta]

If they don't trade him I could see waiving and stretching him, then re-signing him to a taxpayer MLE making his total against next year's cap at around $11 million.

My preference would be to trade him as salary in conjunction with picks to get a better overall player(Collins).

[PAOBoston]

I love Al but they should use him to make a trade for that next big piece to play next to the Jays. I think John Collins would be a good fit for this team and could help space floor.

[bdm860]

If Horford gets waived, what's the market look like for him?

Will someone sign him to the full standard mid-level (or more), getting him $10m and he's practically breaking even? 

Or does he immediately drop to the vet minimum getting him ~$2.6m (like Howard, Drummond, Freedom, Aldrdige, Milsap, Whiteside).

Could he agree to an extension, like the C's keep him for $26.5m and he then agrees to a 2yr, $10m extension?

Because if the C's are going to waive Horford, and somehow replace him with a $10m player, they're not really saving any money.  And not a lot of starting quality, non-rookie scale players out there making <$10m.

[perks-a-beast]

Option 1 -- Trade Horford

Package Horford and a bunch of picks for a 3rd star.

We have the rest of the team in place. Rob Williams, Derrick White and Marcus Smart would give us one of the strongest teams in the league 4-6. A legit Big Three plus high level glue guys. Then round out the bench. Theis, Grant Williams are steps in that direction.

Well positioned to become an elite team. The final move is needed and trading Horford is that move.

I'm not so sure we can get a "star" for that package, but definitely a good third best player next to Brown and Tatum

Some names to think about -- John Collins, Jerami Grant, Julius Randle, Tobias Harris, Andrew Wiggins, Pascal Siakam, Kyle Kuzma.

Personally, I have a hard time getting excited about any of those names, but it's a route I can see the team taking.

[liam]

That is a difficult question as things are right now. I think it will be a lot clearer at the end of the year. Mostly move on from him for a role-playing power forward.