Boston Celtics fans have spent the past month and a half discussing Al Horford’s pending free agency. Would he really leave Boston? Will he retire? Can the Celtics make a competitive offer despite being hamstrung by the league’s second-apron rules?
These questions have dominated the news cycle for quite some time and will finally be answered soon. Horford will officially become a free agent at 6 p.m. ET on Monday.
In the hours leading up to the negotiation period’s opening, NBA Insider Marc Stein shared the first reported threat to lure the veteran away from Boston.
“League sources say veteran center Al Horford will be a top target for [the] Golden State [Warriors],” Stein wrote in an afternoon edition of his Stein Line newsletter.
The Warriors would be a great fit for Al Horford if he was to leave the Celtics
Golden State makes a lot of sense as a Horford destination. The Dubs finished the 2024-25 season with a 48-34 record, landing in the seventh seed out West. They won their play-in game and then the ensuing first-round series over the Houston Rockets, before being bounced by the Minnesota Timberwolves in round two, after Stephen Curry was sidelined with a hamstring strain.
At last season’s trade deadline, the Warriors pushed their chips to the center of the table and made a move to bring Jimmy Butler to the Bay Area. Butler combined to form a great one-two punch with Curry, and Golden State rolled through the second half of their season. They logged a 23-7 record in games where the former Miami Heat forward suited up. That late-season success gives the front office, as well as free agents like Horford, good reason to believe that the Warriors have another deep playoff run in them before the 37-year-old Curry is through playing.
Though Golden State has significant interest in Horford, there’s been no indication that he’s in a hurry to decide his future.
In fact, we’ve heard the opposite. On Sunday, “The Boston Globe’s” Adam Himmelsbach shared that it’d be unlikely for the 39-year-old to sign anywhere within the first day of free agency.
“I’m told Al Horford continues to mull potential options for next season and at the moment appears unlikely to have a final decision on the first day of free agency tomorrow,” Himmelsbach shared in a post to X.
I’m told Al Horford continues to mull potential options for next season and at the moment appears unlikely to have a final decision on the first day of free agency tomorrow.
— Adam Himmelsbach (@AdamHimmelsbach) June 29, 2025
If this is the end of Horford’s time in Boston, it’ll be the conclusion of an impressive tenure. The longtime beloved Celtic big man appeared in 465 regular-season games for the Cs over seven seasons. Horford was a key player during the Celtics’ 2024 NBA Championship run, which capped off a sustained era of success during his time with the team.