It wasn’t all that surprising when Al Horford opted out of his contract with the Boston Celtics at the end of the season.
What was surprising was seeing the five-time All-Star depart the Green for the Philadelphia 76ers on a massive four-year, $109 million deal. It was believed by many that Horford coming back to Boston on a more cap-friendly contract was a real possibility, but the Sixers’ offer proved to be too much to turn down for the 33-year-old.
Horford has since fueled Celtics fans’ nightmares with images of him walking around in a 76ers uniform.
But just how much of a possibility was there that Horford could have re-signed with the C’s? Danny Ainge floated out an interesting theory.
“I don’t know if Al makes the decision he makes if he knows that Kemba is coming,” Ainge told reporters, via NBC Sports Boston’s Chris Forsberg. “I have no idea if that makes — but that’s how free agency is, sometimes you gotta make decisions before you know other certainties.”
Horford has stated that once he saw the offer from Philadelphia, it was a “very easy decision,” and who knows if the center would have taken less to come back to Boston with that kind of money on the table.
The Sixers now have a massive starting lineup that will feature Horford, Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons.
But there is plenty to still be excited about with the Celtics, given the liveliness of Kemba Walker’s and Enes Kanter’s introductory press conferences Wednesday.
