Shortly after the Boston Celtics’ playoff exit in May, Payton Pritchard sighed when asked about the prospect of losing Al Horford. Though Horford had started to give off signs he could leave Boston as a free agent, Pritchard emphasized the organization could not let that happen. Pritchard said the veteran’s locker room presence alone was crucial.
“And then having him on the court,” Pritchard said, “just for all the young guys to see how he goes about his business, how professional he is, he’s just a leader.”
Pritchard said the Celtics needed Horford back.
“You can’t replace Al,” Pritchard said.
The Celtics will need to try.
At long last, Horford’s offseason waiting game ended Sunday when he agreed to sign with the Golden State Warriors, officially ending his second Boston tenure.
Though Horford had been widely expected to join the Warriors since early in the offseason, his decision lingered throughout the offseason, along with Jonathan Kuminga’s unresolved restricted free agency. With Kuminga’s situation still not concluded, the terms of Horford’s contract have yet to be determined, though he will join Golden State on a multi-year deal, a league source confirmed to The Athletic.
Horford’s decision to sign with the Warriors, first reported by ESPN, came after he considered the Lakers, Nuggets, other suitors and even retirement, league sources said. The 39-year-old is expected to step into the starting center role next to Stephen Curry, Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green, three established big names near his age bracket. Curry is 37, while Butler and Green are 35.
Horford will give the Warriors the established stretch center they’ve been seeking, allowing Green to start at power forward — which is easier on his body — while delivering Curry and Butler the space they need to operate. Out of necessity, Green spent more than half of his minutes at center last season, according to Cleaning the Glass. Kerr has said that it is not something the Warriors want to repeat.
Though the Celtics had hoped to retain Horford, as Brad Stevens shared early in the offseason, their likelihood of doing so appeared to take a hit when Jayson Tatum suffered a torn Achilles in the team’s playoff loss to New York. Horford started striking a different tune on his future after that misfortune. During an exit interview the day after the Celtics concluded their series against the Knicks, Horford, who had previously stated he would not retire after the season, was suddenly non-committal about whether he would even continue his playing career.
“I’m just not ready to talk about that right now,” Horford said at the time. “I just need some time with my wife and my family, and that’s what I plan on doing these next few weeks.”
Despite his history in Boston, it made some sense for Horford to depart the team for the second time as a free agent. With a desire to get under the second apron, the Celtics didn’t have much financial wiggle room even after trading Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porziņģis to shed salary. Plus, Tatum’s injury likely killed the team’s title chances, and Horford, so late in his career, didn’t have time to wait.
Stevens did not express any hard feelings over Horford’s choice in early July, when the Celtics already recognized he would not be returning.
“The only reason I haven’t talked about Al is because that’s not final,” Stevens said then. “I could probably talk about (him) my whole press conference and not say enough. I don’t want to speak in absolute terms until an ultimate decision is made, but another guy that, if he were to go and play somewhere else, I think, is an all-time Celtic and a winner and did everything he could for this organization.”
Horford should have a better chance to chase his second championship in Golden State. After acquiring Butler last season, the Warriors won 30 of their final 41 regular-season games before knocking off the Rockets in the first round of the playoffs. Despite falling to Minnesota in the second round after Curry strained his left hamstring during Game 1 of the series, Golden State will enter the season with optimism.
Horford did little but win in Boston. Over his seven seasons with the Celtics, spanning two stints with the team, they won one championship while reaching the NBA Finals twice and the Eastern Conference finals five times. Even at age 38 (he has since turned 39), he started nine of the Celtics’ 11 playoff games last season, including the final five of the second round. Despite his advanced age, he remains one of the few centers able to impact games at the 3-point arc on both ends of the court.
That’s a valuable commodity in today’s NBA.
Horford’s departure won’t just hurt the Celtics on the court. Over the years, a long list of his teammates have shared how much they learned from his professionalism.
From watching Horford, Tatum said he picked up the importance of having a routine and mapping out what to accomplish each day. Sam Hauser said he took mental notes early in his career on how Horford operated on a day-to-day basis, incorporating parts of the veteran’s approach. There might not have been a player more respected than Horford in the Celtics locker room.
Luke Kornet, one of several Boston players to call Horford the best teammate he ever had, believed much of the Celtics’ team identity stemmed from Horford and his leadership.
“It’s an honor to play with him,” Kornet, who recently signed with the Spurs, said after last season.
Kornet added, “It’s something you want to cherish every single year that you have an opportunity to even play with a guy like that because it is rare and not common to be able to have that experience.”
(Photo: Maddie Meyer / Getty Images)