Per the Boston Herald’s Steve Bulpett, Boston Celtics veteran forward-center Al Horford is willing to take a “team-friendly” paycut in 2019-20 in exchange for two extra years being tacked onto his current contract. Horford signed a four-year, $113.3 million contract in 2016 that will pay him $30.1 million in 2019-20, the final season of his current contract, should he choose to utilize his player option.
The Celts still have to find out what Al Horford wants to do. The veteran can opt out of the approximately $29 million he has coming next year, and, according to a league source, Horford would like to stay. The source added that he’d take a more team-friendly number for next season if he can get two more years tacked on.
As of now, however, the Celtics have yet to engage in any talks with Horford or his representation.
Horford has stated multiple times that he’d like to remain with the Celtics long-term, with the most recent occurrence happening right after Boston was eliminated by the Milwaukee Bucks in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference semifinals. However, should Horford opt-out of his contract with the intention of re-signing of signing for a lower, it offers the Celtics more maneuverability in free agency.
His paycut could give Boston the extra cap room they need to re-sign veteran forward Marcus Morris, who has shown an interest returning to the Celtics (per MassLive’s John Karalis), or backup point guard Terry Rozier. Rozier, who will be a restricted free agent this offseason, could be the best safety net that Boston has if Kyrie Irving opts to sign elsewhere this summer.
Despite his underwhelming performance in 2018-19, Rozier still impressed when given the opportunity to start. In 14 starts, he averaged 13.1 points, 5.2 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 1.7 steals in 30.1 minutes per game, shooting 42.9 percent from the field, 40.5 percent from three and 89.5 percent from the charity stripe.
Horford, a 32-year-old 12-year veteran, averaged 13.6 points, 6.7 rebounds, 4.2, assists, 1.3 blocks and 0.9 steals per game last season while shooting 53.5 percent from the field, 36.0 percent shooting from three and 82.1 percent from the free-throw line.
