JULY 8: The Celtics have officially announced the signing of Horford, who says in a statement that he’s “extremely excited” to be heading to Boston.
JULY 2: The Celtics plan to sign Al Horford to a four-year, $113MM deal, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical. Horford, on his verified account, changed his avatar to the Celtics’ logo and tweeted, “Celtics Pride,” in an unsubtle way of announcing the agreement.
The signing is a coup for the Celtics, who have not landed a free agent in his prime in quite some time, as Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe relays. The decision is also somewhat surprising, given that the Hawks appeared to have momentum to re-sign the veteran, according to Wojnarowksi, who just minutes prior reported the Celtics figured Horford would stay in Atlanta. Alas, the Hawks and Horford were $6MM apart on a deal, Wojnarowski tweets.
Interestingly, there was also a time when Horford preferred to sign with the Wizards, per Wojnarowski. What’s more, the Thunder pitched to Horford, but he turned them down because there was no assurance that Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook would be there long-term, Wojnarowski tweets. Horford also reportedly had some level of interest from the Lakers, Magic, Pistons, and Nets, but those teams were never serious suitors for the veteran big man.
In Horford, the Celtics now have one of the better big men in the league. The longtime Hawk leaves the franchise he joined as the No. 3 overall pick in the 2007 draft, and the city in which developed into a four-time All-Star. Horford appeared in all 82 regular season games for Atlanta this past season, averaging 15.2 points, 7.3 rebounds and 3.2 assists in 32.1 minutes per night. His shooting line was .505/.344/.798.
We ranked Horford as this year’s No. 3 free agent, behind only Durant and LeBron James. This is turning out to be a big weekend for Boston, which hosted Durant Saturday and still as the cap flexibility to land the superstar, as Bobby Marks of The Vertical points out on Twitter.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Yes!!!!!!!!!
KD->Boston
I can’t stop you from dreaming
Great pick up by them. Congrats Celtics and Celtics fans. Hope they get Durant. Do not want to see Durant go to the Warriors or Clippers.
My opinion, it’s Boston or back to OKC with OKC the heavy favorite.
Probably overpaid for Horford but quality players cost bucks.
When you look at the money Batum and Beal got it starts to make a little more sense.
its more like $18-19 million per under the old cap
Thank. God.
Even if they dont get Durant, which I still see as a possibility if he actually leaves OKC (which I dont think will happen this year), Boston is going to be really, really good next year. I think they’ll be a very good defensive team. They still have a lot of cap room, so if they dont get KD, they can either save that for a potential acquisition later, or use it to fill out the roster now. They also still have to resolve the restricted free agency of a couple of their bigs (Tyler Zeller and Jarred Sullinger), and likely decline the option on Amir Johnson. I’d expect them to be interested in retaining Zeller, while potentially being willing to let Sullinger go, now that they have Horford. They could look for another shooter on the wing, but I think they probably look for improvement in that area from within
It’s a good signing by Boston, but wow these salaries are nuts
the revenue coming into the NBA is nuts. Deals reflect that. Remember, its not the money, its the percentage of the cap
Oh HELL YEAH
If you are a fan of Bill Simmons podcast, watch out! This guy is about to gush and lose his mind over the acquisition of Horford who he has wanted for the C’s for a couple years now.
It may not result in the acquisition of another big name guy but it will make them a contender as long as Horford is healthy. Even better is if they can have someone to play Center and push Horford to the 4. This current team may need him more at the 5 but he has always been a much better player at the 4.
LOL
LOL. He could not have made a worse choice. I’m sure the Hawks fans love this. Here is your superstar Ainge, LOL! Good luck Celtics, LOL!
Your hate boner for the Celtics is amusing. You literally comment in every celtics related post.
They are so funny!!!
Why? They were the five seed without him and now have more pieces with which to be a real threat. I would understand if Horford wasn’t a good big but he is. Seems more like a troll post than anything.
Because this guy posts in every single Celtics thread to attempt to make fun of them, its some creepy obsession.
It’s because he has nothing else to cheer about since he is a Sixers fan and needs to bash the Celtics to make up for his team’s complete failures. We’re talking about a guy who is convinced Embiid is a top 3 center even though he hasn’t played a game yet.
Really?? After you sign Howard you want to gloat? Hawks will be lucky to get the 6th spot with D12’s ego and Teague leading the Pacers.
U mad bro?
Hilarious! I love it!
Sounds like a disgruntled Hawks fan who’d rather have Horford than Howard … I agree …. This may not be true but definately sounds like it
Nah he just hates on the Celtics… Does it all the time. Probably some old guy who watched Havlicek steal the ball. :)
Well actually they aren’t the best backcourt in the world… And KD has a better chance of going to Boston than your beloved Wizards.
Just glad he’s not going to Wash
Chris … any ridiculous trade offers here where the Wizards Gove nothing of value and get Cousins and Seth Curry and fifty first rounders including all the picks the Celtics have?
Chris … any ridiculous trade offers here where the Wizards give nothing of value and get Cousins and Seth Curry and fifty first rounders including all the picks the Celtics have?
Hahahaha Beal can’t even stay on the floor. And btw in the NBA teams have to play 5 guys not 2. Even still you can’t put that backcourt ahead of the Warriors Blazers and Raptors. You can argue they’re the 4th best backcourt but not the 2nd.
Any ridiculous offers now where the Wizards give up nothing off value and get numerous all stars and like fifteen first round picks including all of Boston’s first rounders from Brooklyn
Demarcus Cousins to the Wizards
Steph Curry to the Wizards
Boston’s 1st round picks for the next 20 years including the right to swap picks in alternate years.
Sacramento gets a Jumbotron for their new arena
Golden State gets a box set of Silicon Valley seasons 1 and 2 on Blu-Ray
Boston gets an autographed throwback Gilbert Arenas jersey.
This works for all teams because I huff a lot of paint.
Let’s be fair … he only wants Seth Curry not Stephen but the Wizards also swoop in and sign Durant at the last minute and get Karl Anthony Towns just cuz he can dream
Going for the trophy …….
And hey Chris815, how is the league disrespecting Wall/Beal?
When you F up the way the Wizards did last year, and then try to fix those problems by hiring Scott Brooks (lol), nobody is going to take you seriously as an organization. They cant choose a direction, so how does someone choose to go there? They cant even tell them what they’re doing
Best backcourt? That’s why they carried their team to a championship…oh…wait…they didn’t even make the playoffs last year. Please the Splash Brothers are light years ahead of the Wall/Beal combo. I might even say that a single Splash Brother (take your pick of Curry or Klay) is better than Wall/Beal combined.
And blaming the NBA because guys don’t sign with the Wizards is hilarious. Sets the bar pretty low. I hope not all Wizards fans are this crazy.
Wizards > Celtics. Fact.
Based on what? The Celtics made the playoffs, the Wizards didn’t. I get that you dislike the Celtics since you’re a Sixers fan but at this point you sound like an ignorant bandwagon fan who hasn’t watched a game a day in his/her life.
So, because Atlanta didn’t want to put up another 6m over 5 years, we lost Horrors… this is exactly the reason why Atlanta will never be an elite team…
I am convinced Durant will be headed home on a one year deal. Nexr year he will be able to get more money with westbrook also on the market. I’d like to believe that these discussions with Durant are a way to recruit him over two years kind of like high school kids are usually beginning to be recruited by colleges in their junior year instead of senior year.
anyway, I would be shocked if he went anywhere other than home to OKC this year.
He won’t leave OKC this year and probably ever. He’s definitely not going to Boston. If he does, maybe when he’s 40 and nobody else wants him and the Celtics are desperately trying to sell tickets so they sign him.
Wrong… As usual
Theres 0% assurance either will be in boston. 100% that 50% of the duo will be there next year.
Huge get.
Puts them in the conversation for 2nd best team in the East.
If Brown proves valuable, they’ll get another Top 3 Brooklyn pick next year and look out 17-18.
And I hate Ernie Grunfeld he drove my Bucks into the toilet so I can’t blame top talent from staying away from that franchise.
Horford must never want to win. He’s a second tier “star” and will be a letdown for the Boston Chokers.
Why do you never provide anything substantial in your comments and instead just say something negative about the Celtics?
After signing Al Horford, Celtics should consider adding either Cousins or Westbrook via trade in order to become a serious threat to Cleveland.
To get either Cousins or Westbrook, Celtics draft picks for next year plus Bradley, Young and Olynik should be part of the trade.
Horford needs help from either Cousins or Westbrook so Boston can become a powerhouse in the east.