The Boston Celtics are rewarding Al Horford’s importance to the roster by giving the 36-year-old a contract extension that will keep him with the team into 2025.
On Thursday morning, ESPN NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski broke the news of the new extended pact between the Boston Celtics and Al Horford that will see the five-time All-Star stay with the team for a considerable pay cut.
“Boston Celtics center Al Horford has agreed on a two-year, $20 million contract extension that ties him to the franchise through his 39th birthday. Horford, a five-time All-Star, will earn $26.5M this season — with the new deal beginning in 2023-2024. The extension eliminates the possibility of a repeat of 2019 when Horford left the Celtics for a more lucrative free agency offer.”
– Report on Horford extension
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The signing is a big win for the Celtics as they get to keep a core member of their team and locker room leadership for several more seasons and at a discounted rate. Freeing up more cap space for them to make moves for impact players in future seasons.
Al Horford’s extension maintains Boston Celtics locker room leadership when they need it most
The Celtics have persevered despite being handed a very difficult situation to open the season. After coming up short in the 2022 NBA Finals to the Golden State Warriors, Boston was expected to be a favorite in the Eastern Conference again in the new season. However, a wrench was thrown into the gears of that plan during the summer.
- Al Horford stats (2022): 10.9 PPG, 6.3 RPG, 2.8 APG, 49% 3PT
Coach Ime Udoka was pivotal in the team reaching the championship series last year in his first season as head coach. Unfortunately, a scandal involving an affair with a member of the organizational staff led to a year-long suspension for Udoka and assistant Joe Mazzulla being installed as the new head coach — the first major head coaching job of his career.
If the Boston Celtics had gotten off to a bad start this season it would have been understandable, however, heading into Thursday night they have the best record in the NBA, and a player like Horford and his leadership has been huge in their success.
Despite a good reason for slippage, the team has maintained its standard and seems primed for another serious run to the NBA Finals again in 2023. This will extend Horford’s tenure in Boston to seven seasons — when combining both stints. Second only to his long run in Atlanta with the Hawks.