The Boston Celtics are one of the teams to watch this upcoming NBA offseason with the No. 1 overall pick in the draft and room for the addition of a star player through free agency.
It’s similar to the model they used last year when they drafted Jaylen Brown with the No. 3 pick and signed big man Al Horford. They also were one of the finalists for Kevin Durant before he joined the Golden State Warriors.
And Horford, who was the biggest free-agent pickup in Celtics history, sees plenty of reasons for his peers to come to Boston this offseason.
“I haven’t really spoken to anyone. But if they’re looking at us, they’re looking at a team that plays hard, that plays together, that plays like a team,” Horford recently told the Boston Herald’s Mark Murphy. “There’s a lot of potential here. We were a consistent team all year, and I feel like the future is very bright. So if I’m a free agent I’m looking at all those things. Add in the great city we’re in and the tradition here. This looks like a very special place I’m sure guys want to be a part of.”
Avery Bradley also made a similar case for why free agents should want to come to Boston.
“I think they respect us,” Bradley said, per Murphy. “I feel like any free agent looking at this team might think we’re one piece away, and it might be them, I don’t know. I think they will respect the way we approach the game, and that’s playing hard and playing for one another, and I feel like any player would want to be part of an organization like this.”
Will Gordon Hayward and the rest of the potential NBA free agents feel the same way?
Thumbnail photo via Greg M. Cooper/USA TODAY Sports Images
