Report: Celtics to guarantee Horford’s $26M contract regardless of Finals result

[pokeKingCurtis]

A little boost ahead of the Finals

[Roy H.]

No team is going to look at Horford at age 37 and going to say, he is the guy we need to put us over the top.

There are a lot of dumb teams, then.

[MarcusSmartFanClub]

5m per year for Al Horford is a joke. Let’s cut our big guy some slack.

He can def sign a one year deal in excess of $15m.

[JSD]

May as well pay him as a gesture of goodwill.  It probably would be smarter to wait until January in case of injury, but we clearly want him here.

Why would January have been relevant? Could they have kept him in non guarantee status all next season, making him essentially a salary dump asset? That's not how I understood it. It's all moot if the Celtics win the title anyway

[action781]

Interesting timing of this in considering of the Duncan Robinson benching.

[Surferdad]

I'm not sure that Al will bother playing until he's 38, especially if we win a title this year or next year. He's played 950 regular season games, 141 playoff games and 109 college games. It's reasonable to expect he'll probably have almost 1,300 combined NBA and college games by the end of next season (currently sitting at 1,200). That's a lot of wear and tear. He's 36 in a couple of days too.

That's a pretty legit career.

There are 10 million or more reason to bother.  Vince Carter did.  Not sure wear and tear has any relevance when you are considering retirement.

[Roy H.]

Interesting timing of this in considering of the Duncan Robinson benching.

How so?

[Roy H.]

May as well pay him as a gesture of goodwill.  It probably would be smarter to wait until January in case of injury, but we clearly want him here.

Why would January have been relevant? Could they have kept him in non guarantee status all next season, making him essentially a salary dump asset? That's not how I understood it. It's all moot if the Celtics win the title anyway

By making the Finals, Horford had $19.5 million guaranteed.  In January (January 10, I think), the full $26.5 million would have been guaranteed.  So, with that partial guarantee, if something happened to Al that was going to keep him out for the rest of the season (or if we wanted to shed salary for any reason), we could have waived him before January 10, and not had to pay the remaining $7 million (and luxury tax on that $7 million).

Reportedly, that's moot now.

[wdleehi]

One positive is that Horford doesn't have to think about that incentive anymore and his full mind can be on winning his first title.


And let's be honest, Horford has played well enough this year to prove his worth for next year.   Why keep that 7 million as a talking point?   

[Moranis]

5m per year for Al Horford is a joke. Let’s cut our big guy some slack.

He can def sign a one year deal in excess of $15m.

It isn't this summer, it is a whole extra year we are talking about. 

Just come back and find me in a year if Horford signs that type of contract and I will give you a bunch of tommy points, of course when he doesn't, I don't expect anything in return, which would be the typical for this board. 

[Roy H.]

5m per year for Al Horford is a joke. Let’s cut our big guy some slack.

He can def sign a one year deal in excess of $15m.

It isn't this summer, it is a whole extra year we are talking about. 

Just come back and find me in a year if Horford signs that type of contract and I will give you a bunch of tommy points, of course when he doesn't, I don't expect anything in return, which would be the typical for this board.

I think he could be given a healthy contract for one year like is suggested.  That's what the Spurs did with Manu:  he got a one year deal at age 39 that paid his $14 million, the second highest salary of his career.  He followed that up with a two-year $5 million deal, where he only played one season.

Similarly, Ray Allen left significant money on the table from the Celtics to join the Heat.  I can't remember what the report was, but I believe it was in excess of the MLE.  Kevin Garnett was making $8.5 million per season in his last couple years, despite basically being a part-time player.

So, teams do pay aging vets, particularly when they're still productive.  Horford could massively decline next season, but it's hard for me to picture him being worse than other guys who are getting around the Taxpayer MLE, like Tristan Thompson.

I mean, it would be absolutely amazing if Horford re-signed here for $5 million, and he may do that just because he loves his situation.  But, I think he could do better on the open market, with some team hoping that he puts them over the hump (whether that hump is title contention, or just making the playoffs).

[mobilija]

5m per year for Al Horford is a joke. Let’s cut our big guy some slack.

He can def sign a one year deal in excess of $15m.

It isn't this summer, it is a whole extra year we are talking about. 

Just come back and find me in a year if Horford signs that type of contract and I will give you a bunch of tommy points, of course when he doesn't, I don't expect anything in return, which would be the typical for this board.

Ooooof...

Don't worry Moranis, I'm gonna flood you with Tommy Pointa when Ur finals prediction of Celtics in 5 comes true. Honestly, I respect the hell out of that call and give it lots of credence.

Heck! Imma give you one right now!

[Celtics2021]

5m per year for Al Horford is a joke. Let’s cut our big guy some slack.

He can def sign a one year deal in excess of $15m.

It isn't this summer, it is a whole extra year we are talking about. 

Just come back and find me in a year if Horford signs that type of contract and I will give you a bunch of tommy points, of course when he doesn't, I don't expect anything in return, which would be the typical for this board.

Your original premise is that he should sign an extension for $5 million per year this summer, which is 1 million percent not happening.

[pokeKingCurtis]

5m per year for Al Horford is a joke. Let’s cut our big guy some slack.

He can def sign a one year deal in excess of $15m.

It isn't this summer, it is a whole extra year we are talking about. 

Just come back and find me in a year if Horford signs that type of contract and I will give you a bunch of tommy points, of course when he doesn't, I don't expect anything in return, which would be the typical for this board.

I think he could be given a healthy contract for one year like is suggested.  That's what the Spurs did with Manu:  he got a one year deal at age 39 that paid his $14 million, the second highest salary of his career.  He followed that up with a two-year $5 million deal, where he only played one season.

Similarly, Ray Allen left significant money on the table from the Celtics to join the Heat.  I can't remember what the report was, but I believe it was in excess of the MLE.  Kevin Garnett was making $8.5 million per season in his last couple years, despite basically being a part-time player.

So, teams do pay aging vets, particularly when they're still productive.  Horford could massively decline next season, but it's hard for me to picture him being worse than other guys who are getting around the Taxpayer MLE, like Tristan Thompson.

I mean, it would be absolutely amazing if Horford re-signed here for $5 million, and he may do that just because he loves his situation.  But, I think he could do better on the open market, with some team hoping that he puts them over the hump (whether that hump is title contention, or just making the playoffs).

That's why I'm ok with us trading away IT, and not trying to match Philly on Al Horford, despite sentimental reasons to do so.

Is it really better to sign someone to a sinking ship? I guess in some cases like Kobe it might really be worth it but otherwise I'm not so sure.

What better way to reward loyalty than for Al Horford to have his first trip to the Finals.

[Moranis]

5m per year for Al Horford is a joke. Let’s cut our big guy some slack.

He can def sign a one year deal in excess of $15m.

It isn't this summer, it is a whole extra year we are talking about. 

Just come back and find me in a year if Horford signs that type of contract and I will give you a bunch of tommy points, of course when he doesn't, I don't expect anything in return, which would be the typical for this board.

Your original premise is that he should sign an extension for $5 million per year this summer, which is 1 million percent not happening.

which would go into effect for the following summer.  He is under contract next year, the extension wouldn't kick in until after that.