Al Horford committed his future to the Celtics by signing a two-year contract extension worth $20 million. It is his second stint with the team – he previously played in Boston through 2016-2019.
According to an anonymous NBA executive, the contract that the 36-year-old center singed with the Celtics is a hometown discount that can be likened to that of Dirk Nowitzki and Tim Duncan.
The executive thinks that Horford could have looked at the market next year and decided that it would be best for him to remain in Boston instead of going to a team like the Rockets.
Via Sean Deveney of Heavy.com:
“I think he could have got more,” the executive said. “This is definitely a hometown discount, it’s like Dirk (Nowitzki) or Tim Duncan (both signed team-friendly contracts late in their careers). But, look, the teams with money next year are mostly young teams. So maybe Horford was looking at the landscape and saw who had cap space and wound up saying, ‘I do not want to go to Houston, man.’ It is a win for both sides, really, but if he wanted to chase money, he could have gotten more.”
This season Horford is averaging 10.6 points, 6.3 rebounds and 2.8 assists in 31.5 minutes per game for Boston.
