Al Horford "Fountain of Youth" Thread

[wco81]

Money grabber

Pretty much, when I heard the pay cut rumors I thought he was taking under 20 mils a year. 24 mils is not much of a pay cut.

Still love the guy and happy he got paid again. Wish him good luck unless he's playing us.


edit: actually it's about 27 mils a year? So yea no pay cuts there.

Why would he give a steep discount, when there were other teams willing to give him money?

Celtics themselves gave Hayward big money and were going to pay Kyrie or Kemba a lot. They're going to eventually pay Brown and Tatum a lot too, so why should he take a lot less to make those moves possible?

All players are going to try to maximize their earnings. They'd be fools not to.

[cloverleaf]

in terms of initiating offense, passing, and shooting, i think hayward could easily fill horford's role. he's perfect for it, actually, because he's more of an offensive threat to drive than horford.

where we lose is big man D. that's the main issue. not even that much in reboudning since al wasn't that great a rebounder.

RIght, but with trying to feed shots to at least Tatum, Gordon and Kemba, at least, a low-usage defensive specialist is perfect for the center slot. (Also, we can hope Smart doesn't really mean it when he says he wants to be more aggressive and less unselfish on O next season!)

[ddb]

Bottom line is that plan A was Kyrie, KD, AD, Horford. And it was absolutely possible albeit a longshot.
Plan A was ripped apart by Klutch Sports force feeding AD to the Lakers. That whole situation made it very difficult for Danny, plus it drove up the price tag as the Lakers were also pressured into going all-in for Davis NOW to pair with LeBron.
The Durant injury also factored in to Boston no longer being an option for Kyrie/Durant. They both considered teaming up in Boston with or without AD. Of course NY and BK were strong options as well. But once Durant went down there was just no way Danny was paying a max to KD and paying a max to Kyrie who as we all know had fallen out of favor with the city of Boston.
So that left Horford with no other choice but to explore other options. And I truly believe that Danny encouraged him to. Didnt make sense to sign Horford to a 4-year 100million deal at age 33 while the rest of the roster is much younger.
It would have had to been Rozier/Horford and being a tax team. I dont think Ainge felt comfortable moving forward that way.

So he cleared cap space and quickly engaged with Kemba who Brad Stevens absolutely LOVES. We get an all-star that WANTS to be here. Walker will be a terrific Celtic.

So essentially Danny decided on Kemba/Kanter over Rozier/Horford and the tax. Plus, Zarren, Danny, Austin have more up their sleeve. I dont know who exactly they are targeting, but they certainly have their sights on a few players they believe are attainable...itll take some creativity, but roster movement is still very possible and its needed.

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[sam_I_am]

Durant was never coming to Boston. Supposedly Durant and Kyrie planned on going to NY last summer. Boston was always going to be a transition for KI - just like Kawhi in Toronto and George in OKC and his experience here wasn’t good enough to change his mind.

I give credit to Al Horford, Kawhi, and even Lebron for honoring their contracts and respecting their fan bases in their last seasons before leaving in FA. I don’t think you can say the same about Kyrie whose public displays at all star game, telling everyone he called Lebron to apologize, etc. made it clear he wasn’t giving the Celtics 100% of his focus. Durant was just as bad. I can’t wait to see them flop and get eviscerated by NY media after a year of over the top only in NY style hype.

That of course assumes Kawhi did not go to Lakers causing me to quit on NBA. I’m so close to being done with all pro sports anyway.....but I was hooked by IT first and then this rebuild.

[CeltsfanSinceBirth]

Monitoring this thread as a barometer of who is cool and who sucks. Carry on. As you were.

Also:

Read on Twitter

[JJHondo17]

Nah, no appreciation here. Either you bleed green or you don't. None of us here are stupid, we know it's a business but when someone whom we thought was our own ups and goes off to a fierce rival (and yes they are still a fierce rival), I say don't let the door knob hit you on the way out. Personally, I won't miss Clappy Al every time he missed a bunny.

[GuyClinch]

Big Al - played some excellent D, hustled, could hit the 3 ball - did well in PnR. Totally nothing really wrong with the guy at all from an objective standpoint. But his game never really excited me. He kinda defines the idea of a 2nd banana. So can't say I will miss him. I also found it annoying how announcers would lavish praise over him.

[WeLikeOurGuys]

Horford was my favorite Celtic never complained, constant pro and really was a team player.

Sad to see him go.

[OldCeltics]

Old man AL. We love you, but Philly and Raptors are the worst fans. Hope you **** them over.

[chrisab123]

Bottom line is that plan A was Kyrie, KD, AD, Horford. And it was absolutely possible albeit a longshot.
Plan A was ripped apart by Klutch Sports force feeding AD to the Lakers. That whole situation made it very difficult for Danny, plus it drove up the price tag as the Lakers were also pressured into going all-in for Davis NOW to pair with LeBron.
The Durant injury also factored in to Boston no longer being an option for Kyrie/Durant. They both considered teaming up in Boston with or without AD. Of course NY and BK were strong options as well. But once Durant went down there was just no way Danny was paying a max to KD and paying a max to Kyrie who as we all know had fallen out of favor with the city of Boston.
So that left Horford with no other choice but to explore other options. And I truly believe that Danny encouraged him to. Didnt make sense to sign Horford to a 4-year 100million deal at age 33 while the rest of the roster is much younger.
It would have had to been Rozier/Horford and being a tax team. I dont think Ainge felt comfortable moving forward that way.

So he cleared cap space and quickly engaged with Kemba who Brad Stevens absolutely LOVES. We get an all-star that WANTS to be here. Walker will be a terrific Celtic.

So essentially Danny decided on Kemba/Kanter over Rozier/Horford and the tax. Plus, Zarren, Danny, Austin have more up their sleeve. I dont know who exactly they are targeting, but they certainly have their sights on a few players they believe are attainable...itll take some creativity, but roster movement is still very possible and its needed.

Sent from my SM-G960U using RealGM mobile app

I personally think the Celtics are done with any big moves of consequence but then again I was sure that Ainge would reward Rozier for tanking the locker room (MJ did instead) and the Celtics were going to near max Vuc. I think Danny did encourage him to find a better deal but didn't think the Sixers would be a threat.

I think that roster was more dangerous with Butler and Reddick. No one on the team other than Harris and Al can shoot

[Fencer reregistered]

I wonder how much Al's decision-making is influenced by Mutomboish Greed.

I just coined that phrase, but I've been raising the analogy for years -- a player from a poor country, with a large apetite for charitable giving. Mutombo, who famously built and paid for a whole hospital in the Congo, is the paradigmatic example. Horford is known to be rather charitable, but I haven't heard stories of any Mutombo extremes. Even so -- there is no amount of money so great it doesn't matter to people, because when you're finally fortunate enough to get to the point that you and you're family couldn't conceivably have their lives be much affected by more wealth, you're at a level where you can do significant charitable giving.

[soxfan2003]

I wonder how much Al's decision-making is influenced Mutomboish Greed.

I just coined that phrase, but I've been raising the analogy for years -- a player from a poor country, with a large apetite for charitable giving. Mutombo, who famously built and paid for a whole hospital in the Congo, is the paradigmatic example. Horford is known to be rather charitable, but I haven't heard stories of any Mutombo extremes. Even so -- there is no amount of money so great it doesn't matter to people, because when you're finally fortunate enough to get to the point that you and you're family couldn't conceivably have their lives be much affected by more wealth, you're at a level where you can do significant charitable giving.

Wanting to give to charity and take care of poorer family members could be a factor. His father was an NBA player but didn't make that much in his NBA career at all since he was just a fringe NBA player for a few years and a 2nd round pick.

Frankly, I grew up disliking the 76ers and only team I disliked much more was the Lakers. But in Al Horford's current shoes even though I grew up a diehard Celtics fan, I would have left for Philly myself.

76ers are just in a better go for it now position. And Embiid should save him some wear and tear. They aren't deciding what to do. They know the wheels can come off of Embiid at any time so they gotta go all in and not count on Embiid lasting another 7-8 years at a high level.

Philly is in position where it is logical if need be to sacrifice the future to win now even if some of the deals are a little unfavorable. Ainge may not think he is in that position at all.

[reload141]

Bottom line is that plan A was Kyrie, KD, AD, Horford. And it was absolutely possible albeit a longshot.
Plan A was ripped apart by Klutch Sports force feeding AD to the Lakers. That whole situation made it very difficult for Danny, plus it drove up the price tag as the Lakers were also pressured into going all-in for Davis NOW to pair with LeBron.
The Durant injury also factored in to Boston no longer being an option for Kyrie/Durant. They both considered teaming up in Boston with or without AD. Of course NY and BK were strong options as well. But once Durant went down there was just no way Danny was paying a max to KD and paying a max to Kyrie who as we all know had fallen out of favor with the city of Boston.
So that left Horford with no other choice but to explore other options. And I truly believe that Danny encouraged him to. Didnt make sense to sign Horford to a 4-year 100million deal at age 33 while the rest of the roster is much younger.
It would have had to been Rozier/Horford and being a tax team. I dont think Ainge felt comfortable moving forward that way.

So he cleared cap space and quickly engaged with Kemba who Brad Stevens absolutely LOVES. We get an all-star that WANTS to be here. Walker will be a terrific Celtic.

So essentially Danny decided on Kemba/Kanter over Rozier/Horford and the tax. Plus, Zarren, Danny, Austin have more up their sleeve. I dont know who exactly they are targeting, but they certainly have their sights on a few players they believe are attainable...itll take some creativity, but roster movement is still very possible and its needed.

Sent from my SM-G960U using RealGM mobile app

ddb doesn’t need any reaffirmation from me, but he’s 100% spot on.

That was the plan ALL along.

[Ill News]

Sucks that he went to Philly, but I'll always appreciate Al. He was the first free agent to ever give Boston a chance. Celtics fans should never forget that.

Thank you, Al.

[sam_I_am]

KG was a 22/11 machine until age 31. At age 32 he started having knee trouble and he was slightly less effective until injury and then was lost for playoffs. At age 33-36 he was 80% his former self and still a dominant defender. His last year in Boston at age 37 he still put up Horford like numbers. After that he was a shell of his former greatness.

To me, Al showed some slippage on offense. He didn’t roll to the basket as much and wasn’t as consistently great on defense as previous 2 years. He still put up his usual 13/7. KG was able to stay elite and a Lebron/Cavs stopper until age 36 but he was no longer close to the top 5 player he used to be. If Al has that type of decline from a much lower peak I don’t think he will live up to that contract. Unlike KG however, he has avoided injury.

[31to6]

Lots of posters said 'hope he signs with a contender' and then when he does 'WAIT PHILLY'??

I appreciated Al a ton here. Awesome all around player. Thought he was clutch, even -- hit a few GWs, and generally came up big in the playoffs (not this year? but the ship was sinking, I guess..). Didn't appreciate him (by all indications) going quiet this year rather than taking more of a leadership role in the locker room and media -- seemed to go a bit Ray Allen on us when we could've used more KG. Guess his contract shows which way that ended up:)

Good job getting the cash that Danny wasn't going to give you, and all the best -- though your whole franchise is going down, let's mess em up!

[Red2]

I’d like an explanation from Al just like I would from Kyrie . But I don’t think we will get one . It appears to be just about money . If there’s more to irbid like al to explain it

[Leprechaun18]

I appreciate Al Horford's professionalism. He was getting old and his production declined, so when he got a great offer he took it and ran, If he would have stayed another year he would not get that offer. I got no hard feelings toward him, but he is the enemy now and I shall treat him accordingly.

[Tiny ball]

Bottom line is that plan A was Kyrie, KD, AD, Horford. And it was absolutely possible albeit a longshot.
Plan A was ripped apart by Klutch Sports force feeding AD to the Lakers. That whole situation made it very difficult for Danny, plus it drove up the price tag as the Lakers were also pressured into going all-in for Davis NOW to pair with LeBron.
The Durant injury also factored in to Boston no longer being an option for Kyrie/Durant. They both considered teaming up in Boston with or without AD. Of course NY and BK were strong options as well. But once Durant went down there was just no way Danny was paying a max to KD and paying a max to Kyrie who as we all know had fallen out of favor with the city of Boston.
So that left Horford with no other choice but to explore other options. And I truly believe that Danny encouraged him to. Didnt make sense to sign Horford to a 4-year 100million deal at age 33 while the rest of the roster is much younger.
It would have had to been Rozier/Horford and being a tax team. I dont think Ainge felt comfortable moving forward that way.

So he cleared cap space and quickly engaged with Kemba who Brad Stevens absolutely LOVES. We get an all-star that WANTS to be here. Walker will be a terrific Celtic.

So essentially Danny decided on Kemba/Kanter over Rozier/Horford and the tax. Plus, Zarren, Danny, Austin have more up their sleeve. I dont know who exactly they are targeting, but they certainly have their sights on a few players they believe are attainable...itll take some creativity, but roster movement is still very possible and its needed.

Sent from my SM-G960U using RealGM mobile app

I personally think the Celtics are done with any big moves of consequence but then again I was sure that Ainge would reward Rozier for tanking the locker room (MJ did instead) and the Celtics were going to near max Vuc. I think Danny did encourage him to find a better deal but didn't think the Sixers would be a threat.

I think that roster was more dangerous with Butler and Reddick. No one on the team other than Harris and Al can shoot

I bet they get some shooters.

[AgentGreen]

I loved Horford's game during the playoffs not so much in the regular season.

All in all, if we look at his contract he signed for us, he didn't play like a 30 mill a year player eventually. He was highly overpaid and Ainge made the right decision to not offer him a huge sum again.