Kyrie Irving is a better player than Al Horford. No one will debate that. But it’s not very difficult to make a case that Horford’s departure from Boston would impact the Celtics much more than Irving’s.
The stars are expected to find new homes in the coming weeks. Irving long has been believed to leave the C’s, while news of Horford’s desire to sign elsewhere developed rather abruptly. ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne admitted she was a bit surprised to learn of Horford’s intentions and wonders what his possible exit could signal for the C’s.
“You know Al’s been their steady guy. Like, that’s their leader,” Shelburne said Wednesday on “The Jump.” “For him to be in another uniform next year lets you — I mean, is this the rebuild? They didn’t get AD (Anthony Davis), Kyrie might leave, now Al might leave. Is this the rebuild? Are we already talking about that? It’s not much of a rebuild considering the talent they still have, but Al was so central to that team over the last couple years. He’s not flashy, he’s not a guy you talk about all that much, but he gets it done. Who do they have to replace him on that front line?”
As Shelburne notes, a rebuild in Boston probably isn’t imminent, but that could change sooner rather than later. In the franchise’s worst-case scenario, the Celtics’ young core of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown aren’t able to take the next step and be the pillars of a championship-caliber team. If C’s president of basketball operations Danny Ainge loses faith in the budding swingmen, he could act fast.
As far as Horford’s replacement is concerned, the Celtics, obviously, don’t have anyone on their roster to fill the void at present. But with new-found money garnered from Horford’s and Irving’s expected departures, Boston reportedly will target centers on the open market.
