NBA insider suggests Boston Celtics rival as threat to sign Al Horford
The status of Al Horford is one of several big questions the Celtics front office will face this offseason. The veteran big man signaled back in March that he planned on playing another next season in Boston. However, an early second-round exit to the Knicks combined with Jayson Tatum's Achilles tear had him hedging on those plans last month.
'Yeah, I'm just not ready to talk about that right now,' Horford said in May. 'I just need some time with my wife and my family, and that's what I plan on doing these next few weeks.'
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Horford will be an unrestricted free agent after playing his last four seasons in Boston following the Celtics acquiring him from the Thunder in 2021. At 38 years old, it remains to be seen whether he'd be willing to play for a team that may not be a serious contender in Boston next season with Tatum sidelined. That uncertainty may open the door for opportunity for one of Boston's rivals as Tim Bontemps suggested on ESPN's Hoop Collective.
'Al Horford is a free agent,' Bontemps said. 'I don't think at this point it makes a lot of sense for Horford to be back in Boston. Maybe he will be, but given where things are with the Celtics, I think he's now much more in play than he might have been a month ago. Al Horford is a longtime friend of Karl-Anthony Towns and has played with him with the Dominican National team for a long time.'
'If (the Knicks) go get Al Horford this summer, who I think (Al) would be an unbelievable fit on this Knicks roster and they go get another perimeter player to deepen their rotation. That's a much better team and a team that could beat the Pacers next year. That's a team that'll be in the mix in the East.'
The Knicks are currently already have salary committed beyond the first apron for next season so they wouldn't be able to offer anything beyond the taxpayer midlevel exception for next season. However, the Knicks' need for another versatile big is evident given Towns' defensive woes and the injury issues Mitchell Robinson has faced for the next two years.
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If the Celtics avoid a bigger reset next season to the roster, the guess here is the team will still pitch Horford on returning for the next couple years in hopes they can make another deep playoff run once Tatum returns. However, if Horford is focused on having a better chance to win next season above all else if he continues playing, the Knicks are among several teams that will be worth watching on the free agency market.
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When Siakam was a third-year pro winning the finals with the Raptors, he could look up to and learn from Kawhi Leonard, who had already won a championship, and Kyle Lowry, a multi-time All-Star. Siakam put up huge numbers in Toronto during the 2019 playoffs, comparable to and in some cases better than what he's done for the Pacers this spring. But Siakam has more responsibility in Indianapolis now and can speak to what Holmgren and Williams are dealing with in Oklahoma City. 'At that time, I was really — I won't want to say naive, but you go into it thinking, it's Year 3 for me, we always had good teams and we always won,' Siakam said. 'It just felt normal, like this is how it's supposed to be. That's how it felt for me at that time. I think for me now coming back, I have a little bit more appreciation for it just because of the journey and like on understanding how hard it is, and how difficult it is to get to this level and to this point.' 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