Al Horford's Return to Celtics 'Unlikely' Amid Warriors Rumors in NBA FA, Stevens Says

Boston Celtics general manager Brad Stevens says it is "unlikely" that Al Horford will return to Boston next season.

"We made offers to both Luke [Kornet] and Al. We would love to have had both of them back. I'd say that's unlikely... but I don't want to speak in absolute terms until an ultimate decision is made," Stevens said Tuesday (h/t ClutchPoints' Daniel Donabedian).

Stevens also addressed the franchise's decision to trade two other key pieces of the 2024 championship roster in Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porziņģis this offseason.

"The second apron is why those trades happened. I think that those are pretty obvious. And the basketball penalties associated with those are real," Stevens said.

Horford, 39, hit free agency after the expiration of his previous two-year, $19.5 million deal with the Celtics.

He has spent seven total seasons as the Celtics' starting center, playing in the role between 2016 and 2019 and returning for the last four years.

"Another guy that, if he were to go and play somewhere else, I think is an all-time Celtic," Stevens said about Horford. "A winner, and did everything he could for this organization, not only from the games but also how he impacted our younger players."

When asked about what the Celtics center depth could look like without Porziņģis or Horford, Stevens praised Luka Garza and described Xavier Tillman as a player who could "flex" into the role, per HardwoodHoudini.com's Jack Simone.

"That will not be the group that people will single out, based on paper, on what they've done with their careers thus far, as our strongest position. But it's up to them to prove otherwise," Stevens said.

Trading Holiday to the Portland Trail Blazers for Anfernee Simons and two second-round picks saved the Celtics an estimated $40 million in luxury-tax payments, according to ESPN's Bobby Marks.

Moving Porziņģis to the Atlanta Hawks as part of a three-team trade saved the Celtics another $140 million in penalties by bringing them below the second apron, according to Marks.

When asked about the Celtics' tax goals, Stevens said the team's "priority" was to get below the second apron but not necessarily the luxury tax, per Noa Dalzell of Celtics on CLNS.

Despite the Celtics' focus on getting below the apron and the potential loss of Jayson Tatum for the entirety of next season amid his recovery from an Achilles injury, Stevens told reporters he wouldn't use the word "rebuild" to describe what the team is going through this offseason.

"Without question, when you trade guys like Jrue and KP, there's some retooling going on... for this group, we've got so many guys back that are really good players, that's not going to be part of the lexicon in our building," Stevens said at the 7:30 mark of his press conference.

When asked about when he believed the Celtics could return to contending for a title, Stevens answered, "I've never put a ceiling on any team. We were fortunate to have a number of teams there, as we led up to this kind of window, that were really fun, and that I thought never really cared about ceilings, and had a chip on their shoulder. And I expect that this team will too.

"The last time Jaylen Brown was on a team that was doubted was a long time ago. The last time that Payton Pritchard has been on a team that was doubted, he probably hasn't been yet... I'm excited to see what this team has in store."

While the Celtics continue retooling ahead of next season, the limitations of the second apron could lead Horford to test the market in free agency. The veteran center has been linked as a potential target for teams including the Golden State Warriors, Denver Nuggets and Los Angeles Lakers.