Athletic: Horford Opens Up About Leaving Boston

[Roy H.]

I wonder if Horford now regrets leaving Boston (again). Warriors are 10-10, look discombobulated and Curry is likely gonna miss at least the next 1-2 weeks as well.

Horford would have easily been the best big man here and helped the C's, maybe even adding 2 wins to our total (maybe 12-6 instead of 10-8). Plus JT could come back in March-April but even if not, he still could have been a nice piece off the bench on our next championship core at low money

Hard to say, but in fairness it wasn't apples to apples.  The Celts offered him the minimum.

I never understood him choosing the Warriors, though. 

[ozgod]

I wonder if Horford now regrets leaving Boston (again). Warriors are 10-10, look discombobulated and Curry is likely gonna miss at least the next 1-2 weeks as well.

Horford would have easily been the best big man here and helped the C's, maybe even adding 2 wins to our total (maybe 12-6 instead of 10-8). Plus JT could come back in March-April but even if not, he still could have been a nice piece off the bench on our next championship core at low money

Hard to say, but in fairness it wasn't apples to apples.  The Celts offered him the minimum.

I never understood him choosing the Warriors, though.

I can't blame him for chasing the money, let's be honest a lot of us have changed jobs for the money. We're fans, so we expect loyalty from players to the team we love...but this is their job. And our loyalty to players only lasts until they start sucking. The it's "ship him out, trade this bum!" 

That said, I would be lying if I wasn't feeling some schadenfreude at poor Al's travails on the other side of the country...he's bricking it at 30% from the floor, he's been injured more often than not, and his team is struggling. Maybe Lucky the Leprechaun cursed him on his way out 

[keevsnick]

I wonder if Horford now regrets leaving Boston (again). Warriors are 10-10, look discombobulated and Curry is likely gonna miss at least the next 1-2 weeks as well.

Horford would have easily been the best big man here and helped the C's, maybe even adding 2 wins to our total (maybe 12-6 instead of 10-8). Plus JT could come back in March-April but even if not, he still could have been a nice piece off the bench on our next championship core at low money

Hard to say, but in fairness it wasn't apples to apples.  The Celts offered him the minimum.

I never understood him choosing the Warriors, though.

I can't blame him for chasing the money, let's be honest a lot of us have changed jobs for the money. We're fans, so we expect loyalty from players to the team we love...but this is their job. And our loyalty to players only lasts until they start sucking. The it's "ship him out, trade this bum!" 

That said, I would be lying if I wasn't feeling some schadenfreude at poor Al's travails on the other side of the country...he's bricking it at 30% from the floor, he's been injured more often than not, and his team is struggling. Maybe Lucky the Leprechaun cursed him on his way out 

I can and I do. This guy has made 330 million dollars in his career. The difference between a vet min and the MLE for him is only like 2 million dollars a year.

If he thought GSW was a better place to chase another ring that's one thing, but if its just for money that's sort of insane to me.

Now I also think it was sort of stupid to join GSW if you're ring chasing, I'm not sure their chance of winning a title is actually a ny greater than the C's this year. Like I think there's a larger chance that Tatum comes back an the C's make a final run THIS YEAR than there is that the old guys in GSW get through the west.

[ozgod]

I wonder if Horford now regrets leaving Boston (again). Warriors are 10-10, look discombobulated and Curry is likely gonna miss at least the next 1-2 weeks as well.

Horford would have easily been the best big man here and helped the C's, maybe even adding 2 wins to our total (maybe 12-6 instead of 10-8). Plus JT could come back in March-April but even if not, he still could have been a nice piece off the bench on our next championship core at low money

Hard to say, but in fairness it wasn't apples to apples.  The Celts offered him the minimum.

I never understood him choosing the Warriors, though.

I can't blame him for chasing the money, let's be honest a lot of us have changed jobs for the money. We're fans, so we expect loyalty from players to the team we love...but this is their job. And our loyalty to players only lasts until they start sucking. The it's "ship him out, trade this bum!" 

That said, I would be lying if I wasn't feeling some schadenfreude at poor Al's travails on the other side of the country...he's bricking it at 30% from the floor, he's been injured more often than not, and his team is struggling. Maybe Lucky the Leprechaun cursed him on his way out 

I can and I do. This guy has made 330 million dollars in his career. The difference between a vet min and the MLE for him is only like 2 million dollars a year.

If he thought GSW was a better place to chase another ring that's one thing, but if its just for money that's sort of insane to me.

Now I also think it was sort of stupid to join GSW if you're ring chasing, I'm not sure their chance of winning a title is actually a ny greater than the C's this year. Like I think there's a larger chance that Tatum comes back an the C's make a final run THIS YEAR than there is that the old guys in GSW get through the west.

Maybe his market - at his desired price point - was a lot smaller than we thought

[Kernewek]

I think it was ultimately two factors:

a) the Dubs are trying to load up to win another championship as their goal this season. They may not get there, but it's a goal the organization has from the front office, to the coaching staff, to the players. Nothing in the language - whether by words or actions - coming from Brad and Joe suggest they're trying to win a championship this season. The message they're sending with the roster moves is that they want to get below the second apron and then build a new, younger, cheaper team around the Jays next season or the season after. It's entirely possible that both GS and Boston will end up in the same position in the playoffs, but the organizational goals are different and presumably the has less constraints on them.

And b) the Benjamins. Boston is trying to get below the second apron, the Dubs are prepared to spend all the way up to the 2nd apron and maybe even exceed it during the season to maximize Curry's waning light. We were never going to be able to match the $$$ they were giving him.

I think these are/were the two main factors, most likely. There's clearly a world where one of Curry's one-last-ride seasons brings the dubs to a deep playoff run, and Boston's front office isn't gunning for it the same way Golden State's is.