Trade No. 1) Boston Celtics bring on Horford, OKC Thunder land a first-rounder
Since Al Horford opted to part ways with the Boston Celtics two offseasons ago, they’ve struggled mightily to find a quality replacement within their rotation. Experiments with Enes Kanter, Daniel Theis, and Tristan Thompson have all seemingly failed and these failures have been a big reason as to why they’ve fallen so far from their preseason expectations of being legitimate championship contenders.
Now, instead of trying to find a replacement for the big man, perhaps they’d be interested in simply reuniting with the same player that left a 6-9 sized hole down at the pivot during the summer of 2019.
Though no longer 32-years-old, Horford is putting up very similar numbers to those of his last All-Star campaign which, yes, was when he was suiting up with the shamrocks. Through 27 games played with the Thunder, the center is averaging 14.3 points, 6.7 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and just shy of a block per game on 45 percent shooting from the floor and 37 percent shooting from deep.
He’d easily be an upgrade to what they have now down low, and would a relatively cheaper alternative to the other targets they’re rumored to be interested in pursuing (Nikola Vucevic, Aaron Gordon, John Collins, etc.)
In return, Presti manages to bring aboard yet another first-round pick, thus simply adding to his already illustrious treasure trove.
Because Boston is in possession of a $28.5 million TPE (acquired in the offseason Gordon Hayward sign-and-trade to Charlotte), Horford’s $27.5 million salary for this season would manage to fit right in.