After months of speculation, Al Horford has officially left the Boston Celtics and committed to a multi-year deal with the Golden State Warriors. Horford was a core part of Joe Mazzulla’s championship-winning roster in 2024.
Horford becomes the fourth member of that championship team to leave the TD Garden this summer. He joins Kristaps Porzingis, Jrue Holiday and Luke Kornet, all of whom left via trade or free agency.
“After spending seven of the past nine years with the Boston Celtics, including their 2023-24 NBA championship season, Horford enters his 19th year in the league as the Warriors’ new starting center,” ESPN’s Shams Charania wrote. “Horford verbally committed to the Warriors on Sunday, sources said. The sides are working through the final financial terms, with a signing in the coming days after the final decision from restricted free agent Jonathan Kuminga, a source said.”
Horford suited up for 60 games last season, averaging 9 points, 6.2 rebounds and 2.1 assists. However, it’s his leadership, defensive versatility and glue guy skill set that will be missed by the Celtics.
Of course, the fan base will undoubtedly understand Horford’s reasoning for moving to the Bay Area, as he continues to seek out opportunities to contend for a championship.
Horford is yet to sign his contract with the Warriors. That will likely take place after a resolution to the Jonathan Kuminga standoff has been found.
Celtics Front Court Is a Major Issue
Horford’s departure confirms what many Celtics fans already knew: the front court is going to be a rough watch in the upcoming season. Neemias Queta, who was the fourth-string center last season, will now step into a starting role.
Luka Garza, Chris Boucher and Xavier Tillman Sr. will provide compeition for minutes, and potentially for Queta’s starting spot. Nevertheless, there has been a serious talent drain at the forward and center positions. Not only will the offense suffer, but the defense could become nearly porous.
Joe Mazzulla will undoubtedly need to implement new offensive and defensive systems to get the best out of his young and inexperienced roster. Furthermore, he may need to simplify the defensive principles to ensure the current rotation can execute at a consistently high level.
Celtics Not Operating With A Tax Goal In Mind
Brad Stevens started the summer with a difficult task. Following Jayson Tatum’s Achilles tendon tear, it made no sense to keep a roster together that would cost almost $500 million in payroll and taxes.
Through multiple moves, Boston is now firmly under the second luxury tax apron and could yet drop out of the luxury tax completely. Of course, those moves, when coupled with a change in ownership, generated some concerns among the fanbase. However, Stevens looked to ease those worries during a recent news conference.
“We’re looking at it from the standpoint of, let’s see what this team looks like,” Stevens said. “Let’s put our very best foot forward…We’ll evaluate the roster like we always will as the year goes on. But there’s no tax goal. There’s nothing that’s set in stone that we have to get to a certain level. The level, obviously, where we were earlier this summer, that’s not close to where we are now. And listen, we’ve said goodbye to awesome people and really good players. But I think we’ve added people who are excited to add their strings together and see what we can do.”
So, while the Celtics losing Horford will undoubtedly hurt, the fan base can rest assured that Stevens will have the green light to spend when the time is right. However, at present, the most logical move is to reset the rotation and begin adding exciting young talent around the core of Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Derrick White.
How things play out from there will remain a mystery, for now.
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