Al Horford has already left the Celtics once for more money and there’s a chance it might happen again next summer, writes Sean Deveney of Heavy. The 37-year-old Horford said this week that he’d like to play another two or three seasons, so he’ll be looking for a contract that covers that time. Whether that keeps him in Boston will depend on the salary he’s willing to accept.
Deveney talked to a Western Conference executive who points out that most of the teams that will have cap room in 2023 are young and aren’t likely to have interest in a player nearing 40. The unidentified executive expects Horford to land a two-year contract worth between $20M and $25M, while another league source tells Deveney that Horford may get a three-year deal in the $40M to $42M range with the final year as a partial guarantee or a player option.
An Eastern Conference executive believes the Celtics’ offer to Horford will depend on how much they have to pay to keep Grant Williams, who is headed for restricted free agency.
“Right now, you’re paying those guys $30M,” the executive said. “They don’t want to add a bunch of salary, so if you can keep them below $30M in starting money next year, it is not a bad situation. Other guys are going up, so you’d like to save where you can. If you start Williams at $16-17M or so, you can go to $11-12M for Al and still keep yourself around $180M in payroll. They want both of those guys around so they have to think about them as a sliding scale.”
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