Everything We Know About Al Horford’s Free Agency

Here’s everything we know about Al Horford’s free agency thus far

Things got pretty crazy last night when it came to Al Horford. First, Alex Kennedy reported that the Boston Celtics were trying to hatch out a deal with Horford on Friday night so they could bring him to the Hamptons to meet with Kevin Durant. They wanted to pull of a similar move that the Phoenix Suns did last summer when they brought newly signed Tyson Chandler to their meeting with LaMarcus Aldridge.

Later that night, Kent Bazemore accepted a four-year, $70 million contract. He took $2 million less to stay with the Atlanta Hawks – left offers of $72 million on table from the Los Angeles Lakers and Houston Rockets. After the Hawks signed Dwight Howard earlier in the day, it seemed that they only had enough cap room to bring back either Bazemore or Horford. Therefore, it seemed like they chose Bazemore.

It made sense as they still have Paul Millsap on the roster as well, and they might run into trouble playing three All-Star big men at once. At this point, it seemed like the Celtics were going to definitely make a deal on Friday night, but it didn’t happen.

Per The Vertical, Al Horford is going to make his decision this weekend after weighing some of his options.

It was a little surprising as the Celtics put together “a strong presentation” to Horford. Obviously all top-tier free agents usually come out of the meeting giving a cliché phrase to describe their meeting, so it’s taken with a grain of salt. However, with the Celtics bringing Jae Crowder and Isaiah Thomas to the meeting, as well as Evan Turner telling the Boston Globe he felt Danny Ainge was confident in signing Horford, thinking a deal for Horford could have been done last night was not insane.

Although, Horford does have choices other than the Celtics. He is seeking a max deal and also met with the Houston Rockets and Washington Wizards yesterday. The Oklahoma City Thunder are also interested in his services, however they likely don’t have the cap space without making a major move.

Also, the Hawks are still not out of the running. Even though they have yet to offer him a max deal, being reluctant to add the fifth year, per Ramona Shelburne, it’s not completely over between Horford and the Hawks. They would need to clear about $11 million in cap space.

That could involve trading Paul Millsap, who only has one-year left on his contract, to the Phoenix Suns, per Chris Haynes. Another option would be to try to move Taigo Splitter and Thabo Sefolosha, which would clear just enough cap room for them to sign Horford to a max deal. Although, none of that matters though if they’re not willing to add the fifth year onto his deal.

It’s highly unlikely the Hawks actually pull off another blockbuster trade to re-sign Horford. It seems that Horford will be on the move at some point this weekend.

Maybe to the Celtics, maybe not. I would say the Celtics have as good of a shot as any team pursuing him, however, I wouldn’t be surprised if Horford was waiting to see if the Hawks were willing to move a couple of guys and offer him a full max deal.

Next: How Should the Celtics Pitch Boston to Kevin Durant?

The Boston Globe did report that a league source thinks the Celtics have a “good chance” of signing him. Now it’s just a waiting game.