This signing has been expected since early in the offseason, but was on hold for months pending the resolution of the Jonathan Kuminga restricted free agency situation. Now, with training camps a day away, the Warriors can wait no longer.
Golden State and Al Horford have verbally agreed to a multi-year contract, a story broken by Shams Charania of ESPN and confirmed by other sources. He leaves a Boston team where he helped mature their young core and was a key part of their 2024 championship run, and Horford essentially confirmed the deal with the Warriors by thanking Celtics fans.
Exactly what Horford’s new contract looks like still depends on how the Kuminga situation plays out (as Keith Smith of Spotrac explains). If Kuminga picks up the $8 million qualifying offer, Golden State can give Horford the full mid-level exception ($14.1 million this year, with raises after), hardcapping the Warriors at the first apron of the luxury tax. If the Warriors and Kuminga work out an extension before the Wednesday deadline (likely for north of $20 million a season), the Warriors can still offer the taxpayer mid-level exception ($5.7 million), and the team would be hard-capped at the second apron. Either way, the Warriors have to sign at least four more players with De’Anthony Melton, Gary Payton II, and Seth Curry expected to make up three of those (all for the minimum).
Horford, 39, is a natural fit at a floor-spacing center backing up (at times next to) Draymond Green in the Warriors’ offense, plus he remains a solid defender. That’s why the Warriors targeted him early in free agency. Horford wants to compete for something in the final couple of years of his career, and the Warriors — with Stephen Curry and Jimmy Butler — provide him with that opportunity, if this older squad can stay healthy when the playoffs roll around.