OKC Thunder: 3 ways Al Horford will have immediate impact
By Brandon Dale
Diving into 3 specific ways Al Horford will immediately impact the OKC Thunder.
On Tuesday, December 8th, the OKC Thunder formalized the acquisition of five-time NBA All-Star Al Horford. With his addition, Thunderous Intentions dives into the immediate impact the veteran can offer this young OKC squad.
The 34-year old Horford is the highest-paid player on the Thunder roster with a contract that stretches over the next three seasons. He’s slated to earn $27.5, $27, and $26.5 million in each of the next three campaigns respectively.
The highest-paid player in Latin American history will hope to be a second scoring option, similar to his role with the Boston Celtics in 2017.
With Horford now officially on the Thunder squad, TI looks at three different ways the big man could have an immediate positive impact on this young Oklahoma City ball club.
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No. 1: “Pace and Space” The new brand of Thunder basketball:
In the past, OKC has utilized a specific type of center. Whether we look back at Steven Adams, Kendrick Perkins, or Enes Kanter, most of these centers have something in common. NO FLOOR SPACING!
The Thunder are moving on from the days where OKC had the brute “enforcers” that would be able to dominate the defensive glass on a nightly basis. Now that OKC is ushering in Coach Mark Daigneault’s philosophy of “pace and space,” it is imperative that the Thunder utilize a big-man who can stretch the floor and have somewhat of an ability to run out in the open floor as well as knock down open 3-pointers.
In 2017, Kevin O’Connor, with The Ringer, outlined Horford’s position in the NBA. As he was the prototypical stretch-five during this time, O’Connor noted Horford’s ability to space the floor. And in doing so, let ball-dominant guards, such as Isaiah Thomas, have more freedom to drive to the basket without the paint being packed.
OKC will look to model their offense in a similar way, giving Shai Gilgeous-Alexander more room to maneuver while driving to the basket. As stated above, I believe that Horford’s role in OKC will be remarkably similar to his tenure in Boston. Gilgeous-Alexander will look to have a massive leap in production with Chris Paul gone.
Horford will give Shai more room to drive and penetrate, and if the defense collapses on SGA, he will have the ability to swing it to the corner and find Horford for a wide-open 3-point basket. Horford’s ability to pull other centers away from the paint to open up the lane is arguably one of his greatest assets.
The idea of the stretch-five on this roster should give Thunder fans something to cheer about since we have yet to see a center with these abilities. Al has tremendous upside and is the perfect fit for what this new Thunder offense is trying to emulate.