OKC Thunder: B/R believes Al Horford should have been dealt to Boston

The OKC Thunder were a team we believed would make some serious noise at this year’s trade deadline.

With the fact that they already made two deals in the weeks leading up to March 25th, coupled with the fact that they had a few quality veteran commodities on their rebuilding roster, this belief made quite a bit of sense.

With the deadline in the rearview, we now know that Sam Presti and co. were relatively quiet aside from their exchange that sent George Hill to the Philadelphia 76ers.

Looking back on the day, no one can honestly say that Oklahoma City made any mistakes — for a team in the midst of a rebuild, nabbing draft capital is the exact right thing to do.

That said, it is fun to ponder on some of the “what could have been” scenarios of the day.

For Bleacher Report writer Zach Buckley, one move he wishes would have transpired was a trade between the OKC Thunder and the Celtics that saw Al Horford heading back to Boston.

Bleacher Report wishes the OKC Thunder traded Al Horford to Boston

Citing the C’s trials and tribulations of trying to find a replacement for Horford over the past few seasons since spurning the franchise is free agency back in 2019, Buckley believes that a reunion would have been a feel-good story and, frankly, a high impact move that should have been considered:

"Freed from the Philadelphia 76ers’ frontcourt congestion and back at his natural 5 spot, the former Shamrock had been giving the Oklahoma City Thunder the exact kind of stability the Celtics have lacked in their supporting cast. Horford isn’t putting up blow-you-away numbers (he hasn’t for quite a while), but his quick reads, on-time deliveries and on-the-money outside shots could all have greased the gears of Boston’s 12th-ranked offense.The Thunder couldn’t have been asking for much. The 34-year-old obviously isn’t in their long-term plans, and he’s still set to collect $27 million next year with an eight-figure partial guarantee on his 2022-23 salary. Plus, getting him out of the Sooner State would increase the opportunities (and ideally accelerate the developmental processes) of young bigs Moses Brown and Isaiah Roby.But the Celtics put their trade attention elsewhere, landing Fournier and Moritz Wagner in separate deals. That should increase Boston’s firepower, but neither one moves the needle.Reuniting with Horford would’ve been the kind of two-way jolt that might have snapped the Celtics out of their funk and helped them make another run at the Eastern Conference crown."

This reasoning directly correlates with our original belief that the Boston Celtics were the ideal trade partner for the OKC Thunder at this year’s deadline.

Again, while one cannot truthfully say Sam Presti and co. made any mistake with their decisions, it is fun to think back on the hypothetical scenarios that could have taken place

Buckley believes Horford heading back to Beantown would have been a fun sight to see, and we totally agree with him!