People Are Seriously Suggesting We Trade Al Horford???

[Eja117]

Trade Horford, trade IT, bench Crowder.

I don't get it. I thought that having the Nets picks would satiate the desire to root for ping pong balls, but obviously not.

It's just that they aren't doing their jobs very well. IT is but we have other guards that can step up and need a big man that will do his job. Al Horford is an over glorified slow small forward.

[Eja117]

You all are egregiously undervaluing Horford.

Yes.  This is simply more evidence for me that the "knowledgeable Celtic fan" is merely a myth.

Must be people who don't watch the games.

Like the one where DeMarre DeRozen out rebounded him and Valanciunus got 23 rebs

[Eja117]

It paints the picture you don't get to sign a max contract, come in here, and be the 4th best player.

You do realize that when he was out for 10 games, the team was terrible, right?

And now he's back and the team is slightly above average

[Eja117]

He's averaging 15/7/5/2 on 45/35/85 with the best defensive and overall +/- on the team, and we're 24-15 despite missing Crowder for 9 games, Thomas for 5 and Bradley for 4.

He's our leading rebounder easily outside of Bradley's freakish uptick (which is still fewer per minute) on the defensive glass. Same rate as the past few years and rising the last week.

He's shooting 34% from deep as a big man.
He's handing out a career high 5 assists.
He plays team defense and block 2 shots per night.

But hey, he looks slow at times and our rebounding problems are his fault. Meh. The salary cap is high these days, but paying Horford isn't a problem.

TP.

He's an excellent Jack of Trades/swiss army guy. Unfortunately, he's not the first, or even the second, (although he proves otherwise by literally being the catalyst to the Hawks making it to the playoffs every year,) but he can be a great and perfect 3rd option.

And the thing is, who cares? Did we think that Al Horford would make us an instant contender? No, he's not. He probably won't ever be. But he doesn't have to be, just put Allstars/superstars next to him, and you'll see his worth.

He isn't fantastic at rebounding, and his age is showing, which is a little scary, due to the contract we signed with him. But he's well worth what we're trying to buy into. I still think he's better suited as the PF. He may not have the foot speed to contest shots, but I think we just need a similarly dominant defensive big men to help better. Horford still has great length, and has underrated and undervalued defensive intensity that is a presence on our team.

His numbers aren't going to jump out at you. But what he provides to the Celtics is only replaceable by a better player/superstar, we're definitely not better if we trade Al Hoford. 3-4 years down the road, who knows? We accumulate way too many posts here reminiscing about the past, and I think we've made off with the 2nd best free agent on the market. Crazy, given it was Durant, and how we were trying to use Horford to lure him.

We really just need a big man. Like desperately. No shade to Jordan Mickey, but if he's getting the start, that should tell us something.

YES! Yes we thought he would instantly make us a solid handful better than the Raptors. YES! Yes we thought we'd have no real problems getting to the Eastern Finals and pushing Bron to 6 games. YES!  Yes we did!  No need for the revisionist...."Weeelllll we alllll knew after bringing him here it would be yyyyeeeaaarrrs till we would be a good team."

[hwangjini_1]

It paints the picture you don't get to sign a max contract, come in here, and be the 4th best player.

You do realize that when he was out for 10 games, the team was terrible, right?

And now he's back and the team is slightly above average

and now you are just being above average silly. please look and see what the celtics record is in  games played by horford. then compare that winning percentage with the winning percentage of all other teams in the nba.

if you do so, you will find that the the celtics with horford are winning a lot more games than most other teams in the nba.

[Eja117]

It paints the picture you don't get to sign a max contract, come in here, and be the 4th best player.

You do realize that when he was out for 10 games, the team was terrible, right?

And now he's back and the team is slightly above average

and now you are just being above average silly. please look and see what the celtics record is in  games played by horford. then compare that winning percentage with the winning percentage of all other teams in the nba.

if you do so, you will find that the the celtics with horford are winning a lot more games than most other teams in the nba.

I'm sorry I don't think 2 wins against Brooklyn or Philly count equally as two losses against the Raptors.

There isn't an aspiring championship team in the league that respects or fears the Celtics right now. We are the team everybody wants to play

[Ed Hollison]

He's a very good player that fits our system well, even if he's not a transcendent player.

So the next question is: Was it the right move to pay so much money to just a "very good player who fits our system well"? Absolutely, and here's why.

Under the new CBA we're about to see some of the best players in the league sign super-huge contracts under the "designated player exception" clause. For instance, Demarcus Cousins this week made news by hinting that he plans to stay in Sacramento, even though that franchise is mediocre at best with little chance to win a title in the coming years. Why? Because under the new CBA the Kings can offer him $207m over five years ($41.4m/year).

It's going to be really, really hard for the Celtics to sign away one of these transcendent talents because the incentive for those players to stay with their original teams is so strong. It also makes it harder to trade for one. Even if the Pacers are a mess, would they trade away Paul George, their franchise cornerstone, knowing that they can offer him a boatload to stay once his contract is up?

So what the Celtics have done is pay a really good, team-oriented glue guy (but not a superstar) $26-30m over the next four years. In the meantime they will have three lottery picks, including the one they just took in the last draft, Jaylen Brown. All of these players will be super cheap, in comparison to what other good players in the league will be paid (JB will make between $4.7m and $8.6m) over the course of his 4-year deal.) One or more might even evolve into a superstar player.

Horford essentially allows the team to compete at a high level now, while giving the option to either trade your draft capital for a stud to put you over the top, or wait over the next 2-4 years for one of the kids you draft to turn into that stud.

Look beyond this season. We should be glad Horford is here. Even if he's not Tim Duncan in his prime.

[Vermont Green]

No need to trade him right now.  I suspect he gets traded in June or July of 2018, after IT gets overpaid somewhere else and we start to build around Smart, Brown, Giles, and whoever we pick in 2018.

This is a very solid team right now.  The owners are making money.  There will be no titles with this incarnation of the team but this team can fill seats and win a round or two in the playoffs.

[Eja117]

Seeing as how he's not worth a max contract now I'll be curious what we can get for him or how we unload him two years from now

[Phantom255x]

Seeing as how he's not worth a max contract now I'll be curious what we can get for him or how we unload him two years from now

You act like Horford is the only player that's currently overpaid in this league.. when that's obviously not true.

You can maybe look into trading him 2 years from now.. but right now? No way it happens.

[Vermont Green]

Seeing as how he's not worth a max contract now I'll be curious what we can get for him or how we unload him two years from now

Salaries will continue to go up.  In two years he will still be a reliable veteran big and some team making a run will have a hole to fill and an expiring contract plus draft pick to offer.  That is my prediction anyway.  I do not think he will be traded this season.

[DefenseWinsChamps]

Even if 26 million seems like a lot under the new CBA, it really isn't. Horford will be 10 year max guy next season. If he had signed a 1 year deal, he would be worth 36 million dollars, but we got him for 26 million, or more than 25% less.

For comparison, with the dollars we are all used to from 2005-2015, a player of Horford's experience back then would command a 20 million dollar contract, but we got him for 14.4.

The value of Horford's contract is two-fold. 1) We locked him up as a 9 year vet under the 7-9 year experience max contract, but we will have him for his 10th, 11th, and 12th year as well, meaning we get a deal for 3 of the 4 years if he continues to produce at this level. 2) We locked him up as the salary cap is still going up, meaning we got him for what will be a below-market value over the next few years.

[spikelovetheCelts]

Would you would you rather have Sullinger. Geez it was a great signing for the Celtics Franchise. Anyone not behind it needs to have their head checked.

[Bobshot]

I doubt they could trade him.

FAs are so overpriced these days there are very few who are worth their salary. Sure, guys like James and Durant.

Horford is a 15 ppg/7 rpg guy making $26M per year. The Celtics had to overpay to get him.
I doubt they'd get equal value in a trade.

Once you sign a guy for that kind of change, you're pretty much stuck with him.

[Bobshot]

Horford's sister, Anna, replied in tweet tonite on Atlanta fans booing Al:  "F**k 'em.