Al Horford joins the two-decade club with new Warriors deal

It's a high-risk, high-reward move for the Warriors, who seem to be again gambling that their team just needs to reach the postseason and then lean on their championship experience. Combined, the group of four veterans has 16 NBA Finals appearances and nine rings.

Golden State Warriors will rely on Al Horford 

This isn't an example of a veteran player hanging on simply as a locker room presence, as seen in the final seasons of other 20-year veterans like  Udonis Haslem and Kyle Lowry. Horford averaged 21.5 minutes last season, scoring 8.3 points and grabbing 4.9 rebounds while making 36.1 percent of his three-pointers.

With the team's strong interest in bringing back Horford's former Boston Celtics teammate Kristaps Porzingis, the team seems committed to playing a three-point shooting center, which also describes young center Quinten Post. It's a good way to counter the non-shooting Green at forward, or play Horford and Porzingis together as the Celtics did at times.

Although there is one bit of mentoring that Horford is perfect for. Horford's father, NBA veteran Tito Horford, used to play in the Dominican League with the father of Yaxel Lendeborg, drafted by the Warriors at No. 11 on Tuesday.

Not that Horford is going to willingly cede playing time to the rookie. Horford is returning for a 20th season, and he's not coming back just to sit on the bench.