The Rockets have set up a meeting with free agent big man Al Horford for Friday, the first day of free agency, reports Michael Scotto of The Associated Press (via Twitter). It’s not clear whether Houston will be the first team to sit down with Horford, or whether he has other July 1st meetings on his schedule.
General manager Daryl Morey has talked about wanting to add a top-tier free agent to the Rockets’ roster to complement James Harden, and the team is reportedly considering a group of targets that includes Horford, Ryan Anderson, and Hassan Whiteside. Houston has also been linked to Mike Conley and a handful of other notable free agents.
While the Rockets will get the opportunity to make a pitch to Horford, they’ll have plenty of competition for the longtime Hawk. Atlanta hopes to re-sign Horford, and he’s also expected to receive some level of interest from the the Lakers, Rockets, Magic, Pistons, Wizards, Celtics, Heat, Nets, and even the Thunder, as we detailed this morning.
With so many teams in play for Horford, he’ll almost certainly land a maximum-salary contract, which would start in the neighborhood of $26.6MM.