The Al Horford Era is Finally Over
The news broke on July 10, 2019, that Al Horford signed a 4-year contract worth $97 million with the Philadelphia 76ers.
In the midst of some really bad signings and trades in Elton Brand’s first offseason at the helm, the Al Horford always stood out as strange. There really wasn’t much of a fit given a certain big man for the Sixers. Horford was fresh off turning down $30 million per year from the Celtics so the signing felt somewhat of spite toward the division rival Celtics.
Photo: Yahoo! Sports
Horford has always been dubbed as a veteran presence who was a solid all-around player, that is not what he was with the Sixers. Horford actually ended the year on the bench with a significant decrease in minutes.
Whether it be his sister Anna trolling Sixers fans on Twitter or the shush to the Philadelphia faithful, I’m not really sure what the highlight of the Al Horford era was.
I know one thing: it’s finally over.
The Sixers traded Horford to the Thunder this week along with a 2025 first-round pick and a second-round pick this year that turned into Théo Maledon. They received veteran shooter Danny Green and Terrance Ferguson in exchange.
Most importantly, the Sixers cleared some major cap space and received a proven three-point shooter player who has won back to back championships with the Raptors than the Lakers. The Sixers may have paid a steep price to offload Horford, but that is the price you pay for signing an aging player to a bad contract.
Green, who is making a significant amount of money this year ($15 million) but for this year only. I’d much rather have the fit of Danny Green for one year and $15 million then the fit of Al Horford for $27 million and 2 additional years.
The Al Horford signing resembled the Eagles Demarco Murray signing, an era I’m sure no one wants to rehash.
Daryl Morey has already made his impact in less than a month into his 76ers tenure. It will be interesting to see what he does in the coming months.
Featured Image: Yahoo! Sports
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