Al Horford is a huge fan of his potential Celtics replacement

For the better part of the past decade, Al Horford has been a staple of Boston Celtics basketball. His first stint included multiple runs to the Eastern Conference finals, and his latest resulted in the organization’s first championship since 2008. There’s no doubting his importance to the guys in green.

But at 38 years old, Horford’s time in the NBA is slowly coming to a close. He’s emphasized his desire to play as long as he can, but nobody gets to play forever. That means the Celtics will eventually have to think about life without Horford. Luckily, they’ve already begun the process of finding potential replacements.

And Horford is a big fan of one of the guys they brought in.

Al Horford is clearly a big Xavier Tillman fan

After Celtics practice on Sunday, Horford spoke about Xavier Tillman and how he’s fit in with the Celtics since they acquired him at the trade deadline last year. As he spoke about Tillman, a huge grin crept across his face.

“On the court, a guy [who's] able to defend pretty well,” Horford said of Tillman. “Can defend out on the perimeter. Has good instincts. And then off the court, he's blended right in with our group. He's super easy going. It's just nice to have him around. And it's been like a perfect fit, honestly. 

“Him being here, him being with us. And he's about the right things. He's trying to play to win. And when you have guys like that, it's very easy to come out here and play.”

Tillman didn’t play much in the regular season for the Celtics, but he stepped up in a big way during the NBA Finals. He played important minutes while Kristaps Porzingis was sidelined.

Obviously, Tillman has a long way to go if he hopes to even come close to filling Horford’s shoes, but he has the skill set to do so. His defense is already on par with some of the best players in the league, and his three-point shot is slowly improving.

Horford has established himself as one of the best role players in the NBA over the past few years, and that’s after he enjoyed a lengthy career as a multi-time All-Star. Tillman may never reach that peak, but he could be a legitimate starting option for Boston should he continue to develop well.

But perhaps even more important is the fact that Tillman has been such a great fit off the court.

Boston built a title contender based on more than just talent—they are a very tigh-knit group. So, Tillman's ability to step right in and seamlessly be a part of what they had going on was no small feat.

And having Horford in his corner is a pretty good sign, too. The veteran isn't going anywhere anytime soon, but once it's time for him to hang up his sneakers, having Tillman around will be a very useful commodity.