Celtics Champion Tabbed 'Unbelievable Fit' for Knicks
Celtics Champion Tabbed 'Unbelievable Fit' for Knicks originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
Heading into the 2024-25 NBA season, just about any reasonable Knicks fan would have called 50-plus wins in the regular season, playing deep into the Eastern Conference finals and not being eliminated from the playoff hunt until May 31 a successful season in Gotham.
Advertisement
Yet with the Knicks being knocked out by the No. 4 seed Pacers, a team that was decidedly a longshot to be in the championship picture this season, it's hard not to look at the opportunity New York had as a chance squandered. After all, this team blew a 14-point lead with less than five minutes to play in Game 1, not to mention a nine-point lead with less than a minute to go.
Heading into the offseason, the question around the Knicks is whether the team should consider drastic changes, like chasing Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo on the trade market or even replacing coach Tom Thibodeau.
New York Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns (32) and Boston Celtics center Al Horford (42) work for the ball in the fourth quarter during game one of the second round for the 2025 NBA Playoffs at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images
Neither is likely. What we're probably going to see from the Knicks is some fixes around the margin, especially in the frontcourt, where a lack of depth at center proved costly.
Advertisement
And for ESPN's Tim Bontemps, one name stands out as a potential 2025-26 Knicks addition: Celtics big man Al Horford.
"Al Horford is a free agent," Bontemps said on "The Hoops Collective" podcast. "I don't think it makes a lot of sense at this point for Al Horford to be back in Boston. Maybe he will be. But given where things are with the Celtics, I think that he is much more in play than he was a month ago. Al Horford is a longtime friend of Karl Towns, has played with him for the Dominican national team for a long time—if they go get him this summer, who I think would be an unbelievable fit on this roster. …
"And they have a bench of Al Horford, another ballhandler, Deuce McBride and Mitchell Robinson to go with their starting five, that's a much better team. That's a team that could beat the Pacers next year."
Advertisement
Now, there's a chance Horford will retire this offseason, and if he plays, he probably won't want to leave Boston.
But Horford turns 39 this week. If he is going to play, he is going to want to win, and with Jayson Tatum out for what is likely to be the entire 2025-26 season, that won't be with the Celtics.
Could it be with the Knicks? Assuming Horford would be willing to take a modest contract, and considering his pedigree as a 2024 NBA champ, his fit would, indeed, make sense.
This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 2, 2025, where it first appeared.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Fox Sports
6 minutes ago
- Fox Sports
Road warrior Panthers are comfortable starting the Stanley Cup Final away from home
Associated Press EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — The plaque of game pucks marking the Florida Panthers' first 12 wins this playoff run to the Stanley Cup Final is full of a wide array of colors. There are three bearing the logo of the Tampa Bay Lightning from the first round, two of the Toronto Maple Leafs from the second and three more of the Carolina Hurricanes from the Eastern Conference final. It's visual evidence just how good they have been on the road, going 8-2 into just the second final in NHL history featuring teams that started all three series on the way there away from home. The Panthers again open on the road when they play at the Edmonton Oilers in Game 1 on Wednesday night, looking to keep their good vibes going far from South Florida. 'We've been having some good starts on the road, and we want to bring that for sure this series,' top defenseman Gustav Forsling said Tuesday. 'We like being on the road with each other.' Players brushed off the home/road splits — 'That's just the stats,' goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky said — but there may be something much deeper to it. The Panthers travel differently than most teams in the league, often staying overnight during the regular season and choosing to value extra time at home in the playoffs before flying. 'We have a lot of good people in our organization who are working on that stuff and doing the research (on) what is the best for the recovery and all that stuff,' defenseman Nikko Mikkola said. 'As a player, you don't have to think too much. You just do what they tell you and just go with that.' The Panthers opted to practice at home Monday, then travel the 2,500 miles (4,023 kilometers) to Edmonton on Tuesday. They followed a similar routine last year, when they beat the Oilers in the final. 'We just got off the plane, went to the gym, did a little activation stuff and feeling really good right now and I'm sure we will feel good tomorrow morning, too,' forward Jesper Boqvist said, adding he's not sure why Florida is so good in unfriendly confines. 'I don't have a secret answer to that, but I think we are comfortable either way.' So are the Oilers, who are 6-3 away from home. Veteran forward Adam Henrique, who in 2012 played for New Jersey against Los Angeles in the only other final with teams that started the first three rounds on the road, considers it a project of collective maturity. 'Good teams, you just find a way,' Henrique said. 'It's a business trip. You go and have got to do your job, go take care of business and put yourself in a good spot to come home.' Brown a question Edmonton won't have winger Zach Hyman the rest of the way after he was injured late in the West final against Dallas. There's a little bit of lineup intrigue elsewhere, too. Coach Kris Knoblauch said Monday he expected Connor Brown, who missed the clincher last round, to play in Game 1. Brown missed practice Tuesday with an illness, and Knoblauch said the 31-year-old would be a game-time decision. If Brown is able to play, it looks like Jeff Skinner would remain in, with Viktor Arvidsson potentially coming out. Skinner was a healthy scratch from Game 1 of the first round until replacing Hyman in Game 5 against the Stars and scoring in that win. Skinner, who played over 1,000 regular-season games before finally making his playoff debut, has tried his best to stay ready for his opportunity. 'When you get this far, there's a lot at stake and a lot more emotion and excitement involved in everything,' Skinner said. 'You get this close, you want to put your best foot forward and that will be exciting.' More Perry Corey Perry is about to play in the final for a fifth time in six years and the sixth time in his career, he just turned 40 and he does not have a contract beyond this season. Does that mean he's considering retirement? Nope. 'That's the plan is to be back next year,' Perry said. "It's just not in me to think about it. There's a lot of things that I love doing. I love playing. I like being around the room. I don't think that's going to be coming into my head any time soon, either, and it's just who I am.' ___ AP NHL playoffs: and recommended
Washington Post
9 minutes ago
- Washington Post
McCarthy, Vikings value Jefferson's presence and leadership in offseason practices
EAGAN, Minn. — The Minnesota Vikings urged Justin Jefferson to fully participate in their offseason program, a commitment some established NFL stars aren't willing to make each spring. The sixth-year wide receiver was already a step ahead of the coaching staff. This is a critical offseason for Jefferson and the Vikings, breaking in a new quarterback in J.J. McCarthy , so he was planning to make his attendance a priority. 'It's definitely important to gain a little bit of a sight of what the new year is coming to look like, to build that connection with my teammates and especially with my quarterback,' Jefferson said after practice on Monday. 'It's definitely great to be out here early to kind of get into the feel.' These late spring practices, known in league parlance as organized team activities, are when the basic installation of the playbook begins, even though only the three-day minicamp next week is contractually mandated. It's also a prime opportunity to build that rhythm and trust between the quarterback and his receivers. 'He's a tremendous talent, tremendous leader, but his leadership really shows up when he's here,' said McCarthy, who accompanied Jefferson to a Timberwolves playoff game last month when they sat together in courtside seats. 'Just being able to get that chemistry building on and off the field has been invaluable.' Jefferson, whose 7,432 receiving yards are the most in league history through a player's first five seasons, said he doesn't concern himself with the style or tendencies of who's throwing. 'As long as the ball gets close to my face, I'm going to try to catch it,' he said. 'It doesn't matter how fast the ball is going, the spin of it or if it's coming from a lefty or a righty. My job is to catch the ball.' What's most important to Jefferson is the quarterback learning to adjust to his route-running preferences, with an exceptional stride length and side-to-side agility that helps set him apart. 'It's that timing, those reps,' McCarthy said. 'All of that has to be built up over time.' Which is why Jefferson being around all the time is so valuable. 'He's an energy igniter of the whole building, and I think he's come back with a purpose and a mindset,' coach Kevin O'Connell said. 'You hear his voice, you hear his interaction with teammates, and they just carry such a long way.' Not just for the quarterback. 'The guys in that locker room know, 'If this guy, one of the best in the world at what he does, is pushing himself in May and June, I sure as heck better be doing the same thing,'' O'Connell said. McCarthy, whose rookie season was spent entirely in the training room recovering from knee surgery, at least had some meaningful time in strategy meetings that helped him start to build the knowledge base in the offense even if he wasn't taking snaps on the field. 'I've been really surprised by some of the things that he does know. You're like, 'Man, we covered that in a 10-minute burst in Week 11 last year. How do you remember that?'' O'Connell said. 'And then there's some other things where you're like, 'Oh, I assumed he knew that.' So it's our job — baseline teaching and stacking days and layered learning so that we're constantly making him feel like he's growing but never comfortable.' Jefferson can see that too. 'He definitely has an arm, that's for sure. He can definitely zip it whenever he needs to,' he said, before recounting his advice to McCarthy at this stage of the offseason. 'Just let everything happen. Don't try to make the best play every single play.' ___ AP NFL:
Washington Post
9 minutes ago
- Washington Post
Where's Marty McFly's guitar? Search is on for 'Back to the Future' prop 4 decades later
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Marty McFly grabbed a guitar in 'Back to the Future' and rocked out with the band at a 1950s high school dance, helping him narrowly avoid blinking out of existence before time-traveling back to the 1980s. The guitar, in real life, wasn't as lucky. Filmmakers went looking for the instrument while making the movie's 1989 sequel, but even now it's nowhere to be found. Four decades after the blockbuster film debuted, the guitar's creator has launched a search for the iconic Cherry Red Gibson ES-345.
