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

[jpotter33]

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10037256-celtics-rumors-al-horford-to-return-for-final-year-of-contract-will-make-265m

Nice gesture by the C’s, though it doesn’t seemingly make much sense to not guarantee the full amount at this point. My understanding is the extra $7M isn’t going to be that useful to us on its own to free up, but it could be handy in trade talks.

Also, it says that they’ll fully guarantee it for the full amount, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that he’ll 100% be here and not traded elsewhere as part of a package for another star.

That said, as integral as Al has been to our success this year, it’s hard to see us trading him away and not taking another go at it with him, especially if we win it all.

[Celtics2021]

Yeah, this makes sense.  $7 million in savings wouldn’t likely get the C’s below the tax (since it’d really only be $5 million in savings by the time you added even a minimum salary to replace him).

I think it’s more likely than not that Horford will remain.  He’s #3 in MPG and total minutes in the playoffs.  That’s not someone you typically trade away off a finals team.  He’s been integral to the C’s success this year.

[slamtheking]

makes sense based on how Al has played this year and impacted the team.  also sends a positive message to agents and players that may consider Boston as a destination that if they sign a deal that has incentives and they play well, Boston would be a franchise that would take care of them on those incentives.

[Phantom255x]

Happy to see it. Yeah I think we need Horford next season because theoretically if you did decide to let him walk, who are you getting to replace him? Timelord already is kind of proving that he may not be as reliable due to his injuries and knee issues (not his fault) so they need to keep the duo intact and hopefully add some depth at the position. Horford is still a valuable player to a championship team and it's not like we're asking him to be a scorer, just do what he usually does and be that versatile big.

[Birdman]

Great move by head office

[liam]

He earned it! I think he'll have a huge series against the Warriors. I think our bigs are a big advantage over Goldenstates bigs.

[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.

[liam]

Brink's truck.

[kraidstar]

Good for Al

[Sketch5]

I like it for two reasons, one Stevens has to get players and other GM's to warm up to Boston after DA left some bad tastes in their mouths.

So showing other players that Boston is loyal to their players is a good move.

Also I could see if they win the Finals that Al might want to go back to Atlanta for his farewell tour, finish it up where it started. It would be a bad move to send him to a bad team for extra talent, so Atlanta would make sense. A team with some serviceable young players that is also in the hunt who could use Al's leadership and mentoring.

But I'd rather him stay and retire a Celtic, maybe be a coach too. He seems to have everyone's respect, it's really worth having him here.

[colincb]

Maybe they want to re-sign him after next year at a realistic number for both sides, and this is some sugar to pave the way.

I don't see him wanting to go back to ATL. Not the greatest organization historically, and I think they have a shaky team too.

Also, Al likes BOS.

[radiohead]

Maybe they want to re-sign him after next year at a realistic number for both sides, and this is some sugar to pave the way.

I don't see him wanting to go back to ATL. Not the greatest organization historically, and I think they have a shaky team too.

Also, Al likes BOS.

This is probably the ideal scenario. Al should still be effective next season. After that, he could transition into a mentoring role for the Cs, at a team friendly contract of course.

[bogg]

They'd be keeping him around even if he wasn't good anymore because a big expiring contract is useful in trade talks while $19.5 million in dead money is just dead money. Al is, of course, still good and that makes the decision even easier.

[Moranis]

Hopefully they can extend him this summer.  I'd be all for a reasonable extension, like 3 years, 15 million or something (and before anyone says 5 million is small, that will be for when Al is 37, 38, and 39 and I can't see him getting more than 5 million a year for those years). 

[Phantom255x]

Hopefully they can extend him this summer.  I'd be all for a reasonable extension, like 3 years, 15 million or something (and before anyone says 5 million is small, that will be for when Al is 37, 38, and 39 and I can't see him getting more than 5 million a year for those years).

If they want to give him an extension, I'd be down for something like 2/20M after next season.

I mean overall that could end up being a 3/45M contract beginning next season which would be a very solid get. The thing with Horford is that he doesn't have to rely on speed and athleticism a ton and because of that I think his game can age like fine wine. He can still be pretty productive a few years from now. And there's no doubt he's a leader in that locker room and can continue to mentor some of our younger frontcourt members (Timelord, G-Will)