Maybe the C's already have their long term replacement for Al Horford....

[Big333223]

I think Grant has more developing to do. We've seen the makings of a good pump-and-drive game to go with dead-eye shooting and his defense seems to be for real. We should stop thinking about him as a PF/C and start thinking about him as a combo forward a la Jae Crowder.

Crowder has been a starter on 2 Finals teams and an EC Finalist and I think Grant is already more skilled than Crowder. If he embraces the role he played this season I think he'd be a perfect #5 guy with the other 4 starters (in a year or two).

[theswitch]

Grant's contract negotiations are going to be interesting for sure

Dorian Finney-Smith is an interesting comp for Grant -- similar in terms of RAPTOR and that type of thing, a glue guy plus-defender who hits threes at a high rate and has gotten better every year but I don't think will ever be much more than that. Finney-Smith is a more proven starter-level player but wasn't until his age 26-27 season. He was on a cheap deal but will be re-upped this summer in the four-year, $52M range. That feels like a lot for Grant since DFS has proven it for longer, so something like 75% of that feels right. A touch under $10M a year? That's probably rich but feels about right.

[celticsclay]

I think the way the NBA is going, Grant will be a perfect fit as a PF.

I'm imagining next season, Al is still the starter but their minutes basically flip (Al playing around 20 mpg and Grant playing around 30) and then Grant takes over as the starter.

Last season was tough for Grant because he put on weight to play bigger and it didn't go well. This year he took the weight off to be able to play faster and it worked. Now that we know that that works and he has that mentality, I'm excited to see his growth going forward.

Are we now thinking Horford is definitely on the team next year? If we make finals he definitely because of how salary is structured. But other he is making like 28 million instead of 11 if they don’t bring him back.

[Surferdad]

I think Grant has more developing to do. We've seen the makings of a good pump-and-drive game to go with dead-eye shooting and his defense seems to be for real. We should stop thinking about him as a PF/C and start thinking about him as a combo forward a la Jae Crowder.

Crowder has been a starter on 2 Finals teams and an EC Finalist and I think Grant is already more skilled than Crowder. If he embraces the role he played this season I think he'd be a perfect #5 guy with the other 4 starters (in a year or two).

Grant hasn't played center much lately.  We (but mostly Ime) already think of him as a PF or a SF/PF depending on how you define the positions.

The guy that needs to be replaced is Daniel Theis.  I like the guy, but his poor hands and lack of strength are just killer deficiencies.  He simply doesn't shooting at high enough % to justify his weaknesses.

[gouki88]

I think it undersells Al a bit. Grant played excellent individual defence in this series, undoubtedly. But his physical limitations prevent him from being as versatile as Al, and he isn't as dynamic at that end with blocking or anything either.

Al is also a significantly better passer and post-player. Grant can shoot better than him, but Al makes things happen more with his combination of shooting, passing, cutting, posting up and screening. He just does everything

[Csfan1984]

Grant needs to keep his weight down and is a 4/ 3. Al is a 5/ 4. Not really a replacement.

[jambr380]

I think Grant has more developing to do. We've seen the makings of a good pump-and-drive game to go with dead-eye shooting and his defense seems to be for real. We should stop thinking about him as a PF/C and start thinking about him as a combo forward a la Jae Crowder.

Crowder has been a starter on 2 Finals teams and an EC Finalist and I think Grant is already more skilled than Crowder. If he embraces the role he played this season I think he'd be a perfect #5 guy with the other 4 starters (in a year or two).

Grant hasn't played center much lately.  We (but mostly Ime) already think of him as a PF or a SF/PF depending on how you define the positions.

The guy that needs to be replaced is Daniel Theis.  I like the guy, but his poor hands and lack of strength are just killer deficiencies.  He simply doesn't shooting at high enough % to justify his weaknesses.

Theis is essentially a 10mpg player when healthy and we just swept a very good Nets team with him starting. I get that some people don't love Theis, but his versatility on both sides of the ball sometimes goes unnoticed because he isn't particularly great at any one thing. With us having literally zero viable back-up wings, I would say replacing Theis is definitely not the priority on this team..

To the OP - please correct the thread title. Are we really still spelling his name Hortford?

[colincb]

I think Grant has more developing to do. We've seen the makings of a good pump-and-drive game to go with dead-eye shooting and his defense seems to be for real. We should stop thinking about him as a PF/C and start thinking about him as a combo forward a la Jae Crowder.

Crowder has been a starter on 2 Finals teams and an EC Finalist and I think Grant is already more skilled than Crowder. If he embraces the role he played this season I think he'd be a perfect #5 guy with the other 4 starters (in a year or two).

Grant hasn't played center much lately.  We (but mostly Ime) already think of him as a PF or a SF/PF depending on how you define the positions.

The guy that needs to be replaced is Daniel Theis.  I like the guy, but his poor hands and lack of strength are just killer deficiencies.  He simply doesn't shooting at high enough % to justify his weaknesses.

Theis is essentially a 10mpg player when healthy and we just swept a very good Nets team with him starting. I get that some people don't love Theis, but his versatility on both sides of the ball sometimes goes unnoticed because he isn't particularly great at any one thing. With us having literally zero viable back-up wings, I would say replacing Theis is definitely not the priority on this team..

To the OP - please correct the thread title. Are we really still spelling his name Hortford?

Theis had the third-best defensive rating and the second-best offensive rating among our regular rotation players during the regular season and improved each month he was here. He was 4th best in the same two categories during the play Nets series and probably would have been higher on the offensive rating except for AH, PP, and GW having ungodly high TS% ranging from 72-77% because they were hot from beyond the arc. He also had the highest TRB%.

Theis fits the team well for a backup 4/5.

[Kiorrik]

I think a lot of people are underestimating Grant's ceiling.

I also think he could be Al's replacement until we find something better.

And I think he's not going to be better than Al.

All of those equate to; Grant's actually fantastic, I hope he grows more and becomes even more versatile on both ends of the floor.

[Wretch]

I've been saying for a while Grant's ceiling is a poor man's Al. He's already a comparable player to someone like PJ Tucker.

If you watch Grant's college tape you'll see that he operated out of the high post a lot as a point forward. He a better passer than people think. It's just not the role the team needs from him right now.

[Goldstar88]

I think it undersells Al a bit. Grant played excellent individual defence in this series, undoubtedly. But his physical limitations prevent him from being as versatile as Al, and he isn't as dynamic at that end with blocking or anything either.

Al is also a significantly better passer and post-player. Grant can shoot better than him, but Al makes things happen more with his combination of shooting, passing, cutting, posting up and screening. He just does everything

Yeah, Al is the most under appreciated player on this team. Grant wasn’t very good as a starter and you can add that Horford is significantly better at rebounding as well. It would be a huge drop off going from Al to Grant.

Grants per 36: 11.6pts, 5.3rebs, 1.5asts
Al’s per 36: 12.6pts, 9.5rebs, 4.2asts

[gouki88]

I think it undersells Al a bit. Grant played excellent individual defence in this series, undoubtedly. But his physical limitations prevent him from being as versatile as Al, and he isn't as dynamic at that end with blocking or anything either.

Al is also a significantly better passer and post-player. Grant can shoot better than him, but Al makes things happen more with his combination of shooting, passing, cutting, posting up and screening. He just does everything

Yeah, Al is the most under appreciated player on this team. Grant wasn’t very good as a starter and you can add that Horford is significantly better at rebounding as well. It would be a huge drop off going from Al to Grant.

Grants per 36: 11.6pts, 5.3rebs, 1.5asts
Al’s per 36: 12.6pts, 9.5rebs, 4.2asts

Yeah, nearly double the rate of rebounds and triple the rate assists. Huge difference!

[RockinRyA]

Al is a unicorn. Really hard to replace him.

[Moranis]

It is not fair to compare a guy in his 3rd year to the prime years of other player, so a lot of this thread is very u reasonable to Grant.  What is fair is commenting on his size, athleticism, etc. and using that to reach a conclusion that even in the best case Grant looks like a backup and not a starter.  I think that is also true of PP.  Both guys that will have a role and can start every once in awhile, but also both guys you want in a bench role

[pokeKingCurtis]

Al is a unicorn. Really hard to replace him.

Yea he's a beast. Anchored those late 2000 Hawks. If only Josh Smith weren't such a headcase.

We're lucky to be able to watch Al have this late career resurgence - and by that token he will be difficult to replace.