The Atlanta Hawks will be a key team to watch as the NBA trade deadline approaches, and apparently the Boston Celtics will be paying close attention.
The Hawks reportedly are considering “hitting the reset button” and making All-Stars Al Horford, Jeff Teague and Kyle Korver available via trade. If they do decide to ship Horford, the Celtics have emerged as “one of the favorites” to acquire the 29-year-old forward, a league source told CSNNE.com’s A. Sherrod Blakely.
Of course, there’s a lot that needs to happen for Horford to come to Boston before Thursday’s 3 p.m. ET deadline. The Vertical’s Chris Mannix said Friday the Hawks would have a very high asking price for Horford in a trade, and Horford is in the final year of a five-year, $60 million contract, meaning the Celtics would need to re-sign him if they wanted to keep him in Boston.
Horford would be a good fit for the C’s if he can be had for the right price. The 29-year-old is a four-time All-Star who could provide the consistent scoring in the post that Boston lacks while also shoring up the team’s interior defense.
But if Atlanta wants a valuable asset in return — i.e. the Celtics’Â unprotected rights to the Brooklyn Nets’ 2016 first-round pick — it probably isn’t worth it for Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge to pull the trigger.
Thumbnail photo via Bob DeChiara/USA TODAY Sports Images
