Ideal Landing Spots for Free Agent Al Horford
Five-time All-Star center Al Horford is expected to be one of the most high-profile free agents to change teams this summer.
Horford opted out of the final year of his contract with the Boston Celtics, originally seeming likely to negotiate a longer, team-friendly deal to return. However, he appears ready to command a four-year deal on the open market worth north of $100 million, which would result in him leaving Boston.
The center turned 33 early in June, so his next contract would take him through age 37. That's a risk, but he's a versatile, durable and smart player who has won everywhere he's gone in his career. He'd be an asset to any contending team. He's still a high-level defender and skilled scorer at the 5, which makes him the sort of player who could fit anywhere.
A few landing spots, however, become obvious when surveying the free-agent market.
Dallas Mavericks
1 of 5
Over the years, the Mavericks have routinely struck out on big-name free agents. This summer, however, their situation is as attractive as it's ever been.
Newly crowned Rookie of the Year Luka Doncic will finally be joined by Kristaps Porzingis, who is expected to re-up on a long-term deal in Dallas as a restricted free agent after he was traded from New York in January and missed the entire 2018-19 season.
Porzingis hasn't played in over a year after suffering a torn ACL in February 2018. But when healthy, he's a defensive force. Pairing him with Horford would give the Mavs some certainty if it takes the 23-year-old some time to get back to full strength.
If Porzingis does get there, that duo would be legitimately dangerous and make Dallas a threat in a suddenly wide-open Western Conference.
Los Angeles Clippers
2 of 5
The Clippers are in the hunt for Kawhi Leonard and have enough cap space to pair him with another star. If Horford wants to play for a contender, this would be a terrific situation for him.
Los Angeles already has a solid foundation of complementary players, including Lou Williams, Montrezl Harrell and rising sophomores Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Landry Shamet. It doesn't have much talent under contract in the frontcourt outside of Harrell, so Horford would fill an immediate need, giving the team a capable scorer and solid defender at the center position.
Horford has a terrific reputation as a teammate and veteran presence, and he would fit seamlessly into the work-oriented culture head coach Doc Rivers has built.
Adding Horford on his own would keep the Clippers in playoff contention in the Western Conference; adding him alongside Leonard would make them a serious title threat.
Los Angeles Lakers
3 of 5
Now that the Lakers have carved out a max salary slot, per ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, Zach Lowe and Bobby Marks, their plan of attack for filling out the rest of their roster around Anthony Davis will be one of the biggest stories of the summer.
They could pursue some of the big names on the market, including Kawhi Leonard and Kemba Walker. They could also spread that cap space to sign multiple role players rather than create a top-heavy roster.
Horford would be a terrific frontcourt partner for Davis. Both bigs can play power forward and center, which would give new head coach Frank Vogel plenty of possible lineup combinations with LeBron James playing small forward or operating alongside either of them at power forward.
The Lakers also shouldn't be scared off by Horford's age at the end of his contract.
They're already locked into the next two to three years as their title window with a 34-year-old James under contract and not getting any younger. That's why they were willing to give up as many future draft picks as they did to acquire Davis. They should be in win-now mode, and Horford would be a logical win-now signing.
Milwaukee Bucks
4 of 5
If the Bucks renounce all their cap holds except for Malcolm Brogdon and Khris Middleton and waive George Hill's non-guaranteed salary, they can open up as much as $11 million in cap space, which isn't nearly enough to afford Horford. But they could get there by waiving and stretching Jon Leuer, who they just acquired from Detroit for Tony Snell, as well as Ersan Ilyasova, which would put their cap space in the $22 million range.
Following a disappointing loss in the Eastern Conference Finals, the Bucks need to upgrade the roster in any way possible.
As great as Brook Lopez was at the center position last season, they can't re-sign him for more than the mid-level exception without dipping into cap space. Getting creative to carve out the cap space to sign Horford would be a game-changing move, and they could then go over the cap to retain Brogdon and Middleton, who are their two most important free agents.
Horford has experience playing for Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer from their mutual time with the Atlanta Hawks, and he would fit in seamlessly to keep the Bucks at the top of the heap in the Eastern Conference.
New Orleans Pelicans
5 of 5
This is a truly intriguing option.
New Orleans cleared Solomon Hill's contract from its books in a draft-night trade with the Atlanta Hawks and now has a path to plenty of cap space. After trading Anthony Davis to the Lakers and selecting Zion Williamson with the No. 1 overall pick, new Pelicans executive vice president of basketball operations David Griffin has given every indication that he wants his team to be competitive right away rather than undertake a long rebuild.
Horford would be a perfect addition to accomplish that goal. He can play next to Williamson in the starting lineup and serve as a long-term mentor for the future face of the franchise. He'd also be a great complement to Jrue Holiday, one of the best defensive point guards in the NBA.
The Pelicans are admittedly a long shot to sign Horford given the more surefire contenders who will have cap space. But he'd fit well in New Orleans and give the team a real shot to make the playoffs in the first year of the Zion era.
