Boston Celtics: Pros and cons of pursuing an Al Horford reunion

Cons to an Al Horford-Boston Celtics reunion

On the flip side, perhaps it’s not.

The main reason why Horford was not brought back to the Boston Celtics was money. Apparently, the two sides were far apart on negotiations.

The exact number of how far apart seemed to be $12 million:

"Woj also reported, citing league sources, that Boston’s “final offer did cover four years but was less in guaranteed money.” He detailed the 76ers’ offer to Horford includes “$97 million in guaranteed money, and $12 million in bonuses tied to championships.”"

Philadelphia’s offer ended up being $109 million, which was the amount he could have gotten from the Cs if he hit the bonuses “tied to championships”.

Reading between the lines, it is clear that Danny Ainge didn’t feel Horford was worth his market value, because if he did, he wouldn’t have hedged by making $12 million of his offer dependent on Boston winning a championship.

It sounds like Ainge wasn’t all that confident re-signing Horford would have resulted in banner #18, otherwise, he would not have played hard-ball with such an offer.

While Horford can let bygones be bygones and once again suit up for a team cutting his $27.5 million-per-year checks, Ainge may not want to accept defeat by absorbing the contract he once deemed to expensive in a panic trade.

Verdict: Pass on a reunion