RUMOR: Horford is the guy Durant wants to be teammate in Boston

[saltlover]

Im sure Durant has also passed this onto the Thunder and all they have to do is move Kanter to free up the cash needed to sign Hortford. Would the Celtics take Kanter if they could not get Hortford?

Trade Amir to Thunder for Kanter then Thunder opt out of his contract

It's more likely that they'd just do a sign and trade for Horford sending Kanter to the Hawks (although it would be a HUGE overpay for a sign and trade

If it's the only way you can make room, it's not an overpay.  It should also be noted OKC would have to add about another $4 million in salary to make a trade work, and Atlanta would need to have cap room to absorb the contracts, since they wouldn't be able to go over the cap as part of this trade.  It's a complex trade to make work, especially since if Atlanta doesn't want to play ball, OKC has no other way to get Horford.

[PaulAllen]

unreliable source.
not a rumor.
just speculation.. poor at best

[vjcsmoke]

IT, Butler, Durant, Amir, Horford.  That's a contender.

[alldaboston]

unreliable source.
not a rumor.
just speculation.. poor at best

Invalid.

It originally comes from this Lowe podcast: http://m.espn.go.com/general/play?id=14808166

He says:

I heard from two really powerful guys (in the league) - who don't normally BS around - they said that they have heard that Horford is on the shortlist of guys that Durant would really want to play with.

-32:25 point.

[jpotter33]

IT, Butler, Durant, Amir, Horford.  That's a contender.

Also impossible cap wise. It would have to be something like: IT/Smart, Bradley, Butler, Durant, Horford

[footey]

Why would Durant want to play with Horford, at this stage of Horford's career? He is about to become an off the bench 20-25 minutes guy in the next two years.  Makes little sense.

[Big333223]

I put no faith in this rumor but I just don't get why everyone is acting like Horford is over the hill. He's he doesn't turn 30 until this summer. If he were to sign in Boston, the deal would end when he's still 33 years old.

[Smokeeye123]

This has been a rumor for like 6+ months.

[hpantazo]

I put no faith in this rumor but I just don't get why everyone is acting like Horford is over the hill. He's he doesn't turn 30 until this summer. If he were to sign in Boston, the deal would end when he's still 33 years old.

That's true, he doesn't turn 30 until this summer. The thing is, he already looks like he's 35 years old out there on the court from what I saw in the playoffs. He's still better than any big man we currently have though, and if he gets Durant to come here, I'm all for it.

[LooseCannon]

Some advanced metrics suggest that Horford had his second-finest this past year and not far off from his best.  He's considered to be a fundamentally sound big man whose game isn't reliant on being physically dominant.  He's not going to be visually pleasing to those who want an athletic big man, but it wouldn't be shocking if his aging curve made him look a bit like a poor man's Tim Duncan, being merely an All-Star-caliber player instead of an all-time great.

[TheSundanceKid]

I mean this article stretches the use of the word speculation.. Not even a fake direct quote in sight...

Big mistake in my eyes to sign Horford to a 4 year max. People bash on Sully for his playoff performance but Horford was hardly better. Horford isn't gonna get any better than he is now, in fact he'll probably decline. In the coming few years of mad money I would rather steer clear of contracts like that. In 2 years there isn't going to be 20 teams with max cap space and a lot of them will have spent everything they have. Just wait for that time and reap your rewards.

[Celtics4ever]

People bash on Sully for his playoff performance but Horford was hardly better. Horford isn't gonna get any better than he is now, in fact he'll probably decline

I call BS, here are stats

http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/h/horfoal01.html#all_playoffs_totals

http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/s/sullija01/gamelog/2016/

Series Stats

http://www.basketball-reference.com/playoffs/2016-nba-eastern-conference-first-round-celtics-vs-hawks.html

Sully's stats were so bad that even a poor showing by Horford was still better.  In this series Horford had 2.7 BPG.   8.5 RPG, 12.5 PPG almost each of these doubled Sully's output.  Horford shot .43% from the field and .40% from three land.  Compare this to Sullinger PPG  5.2   RPG  4.2   FG 31%  BPG 0.  Sully did shoot 50% from downtown but he was so useless in other areas it did not matter.   Sully was absolutely lethargic.

2016 Playoffs

Sullinger PPG  5.2   RPG  4.2   FG 31%  BPG 0

Horford PPG  13.2   RPG  6.5   FG  47%   BPG 2.4

I agree Horford is old and will decline.   But Sully is declining at a young age.   Horford would be an immediate upgrade though, one that can shoot and play D much better than Sully.   We basically signed Amir because Sully needed that much help on D.  How are these stats not better?   Sun get in your eyes?

Sully declines at the end of every season as his body breaks down.  I am not thrilled by Horford and I think Durant is a pipedream but it is patently dishonest for one to claim that he was hardly better.

[indeedproceed]

unreliable source.
not a rumor.
just speculation.. poor at best

Invalid.

It originally comes from this Lowe podcast: http://m.espn.go.com/general/play?id=14808166

He says:

I heard from two really powerful guys (in the league) - who don't normally BS around - they said that they have heard that Horford is on the shortlist of guys that Durant would really want to play with.

-32:25 point.

It is not invalid, the article is what sucks about the NBA blog economy. It is regurgitated drivel from bad sources (Celticslife in this case is not a source). Even if the thing its reporting is correct, it does not properly cite original sources of information, and it doesn't make clear where the stuff they're 'reporting' comes from.

It's bad writing on the back of bad blogging ethics.

[TheSundanceKid]

People bash on Sully for his playoff performance but Horford was hardly better. Horford isn't gonna get any better than he is now, in fact he'll probably decline

I call BS, here are stats

http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/h/horfoal01.html#all_playoffs_totals

http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/s/sullija01/gamelog/2016/

Series Stats

http://www.basketball-reference.com/playoffs/2016-nba-eastern-conference-first-round-celtics-vs-hawks.html

Sully's stats were so bad that even a poor showing by Horford was still better.  In this series Horford had 2.7 BPG.   8.5 RPG, 12.5 PPG almost each of these doubled Sully's output.  Horford shot .43% from the field and .40% from three land.  Compare this to Sullinger PPG  5.2   RPG  4.2   FG 31%  BPG 0.  Sully did shoot 50% from downtown but he was so useless in other areas it did not matter.   Sully was absolutely lethargic.

2016 Playoffs

Sullinger PPG  5.2   RPG  4.2   FG 31%  BPG 0

Horford PPG  13.2   RPG  6.5   FG  47%   BPG 2.4

I agree Horford is old and will decline.   But Sully is declining at a young age.   Horford would be an immediate upgrade though, one that can shoot and play D much better than Sully.   We basically signed Amir because Sully needed that much help on D.  How are these stats not better?   Sun get in your eyes?

Sully declines at the end of every season as his body breaks down.  I am not thrilled by Horford and I think Durant is a pipedream but it is patently dishonest for one to claim that he was hardly better.

Ok maybe I worded that poorly. I wasn't meaning Sully was as good as Horford, or Horford as bad as Sully. I meant people have bashed Sully for performing below his season averages against Atlanta. However Horford is getting let off despite his drop in performance.

Horford would certainly be an upgrade over Sully in terms of numbers. However you'll have to pay him over twice as much for the privilege. I really don't think that's worth it when there are or will be better options out there over the next few years

[pearljammer10]

People bash on Sully for his playoff performance but Horford was hardly better. Horford isn't gonna get any better than he is now, in fact he'll probably decline

I call BS, here are stats

http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/h/horfoal01.html#all_playoffs_totals

http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/s/sullija01/gamelog/2016/

Series Stats

http://www.basketball-reference.com/playoffs/2016-nba-eastern-conference-first-round-celtics-vs-hawks.html

Sully's stats were so bad that even a poor showing by Horford was still better.  In this series Horford had 2.7 BPG.   8.5 RPG, 12.5 PPG almost each of these doubled Sully's output.  Horford shot .43% from the field and .40% from three land.  Compare this to Sullinger PPG  5.2   RPG  4.2   FG 31%  BPG 0.  Sully did shoot 50% from downtown but he was so useless in other areas it did not matter.   Sully was absolutely lethargic.

2016 Playoffs

Sullinger PPG  5.2   RPG  4.2   FG 31%  BPG 0

Horford PPG  13.2   RPG  6.5   FG  47%   BPG 2.4

I agree Horford is old and will decline.   But Sully is declining at a young age.   Horford would be an immediate upgrade though, one that can shoot and play D much better than Sully.   We basically signed Amir because Sully needed that much help on D.  How are these stats not better?   Sun get in your eyes?

Sully declines at the end of every season as his body breaks down.  I am not thrilled by Horford and I think Durant is a pipedream but it is patently dishonest for one to claim that he was hardly better.

Those Horford stats really arent all that terrible.... I've begun to refer to Sully as Big Baby 2.0