Al Horford reportedly wants to stay with the Boston Celtics despite the team failing to make it to the 2019 Eastern Conference Finals.
According to Steve Bulpett of Boston Herald, Horford is leaning on re-signing with the team. In fact, he was reportedly willing to take a team-friendly deal to help Boston make the necessary changes without him leaving.
The 32-year-old NBA veteran has a player option worth $30 million for next season.
The Celts still have to find out what Al Horford wants to do. The veteran can opt out of the approximately $29 million he has coming next year, and, according to a league source, Horford would like to stay. The source added that he’d take a more team-friendly number for next season if he can get two more years tacked on.
Horford has been a pivotal part of the Celtics' playoff run this year. While the team had been inconsistent all season long, Horford provided steady leadership and voice in the locker room. Put simply, he was a calming presence for the Beantown team.
He averaged 13.6 points, 6.7 rebounds and 4.2 assists in 68 regular season games this 2018-19 campaign. During the postseason, he put up almost similar numbers at 13.9 points, 9.0 boards and 4.4 dimes per contest.
The latest odds point to Horford signing elsewhere, but Boston would certainly want to bring him back. However, the Celtics' key player decisions will likely depend on how their offseason will turn out, with Kyrie Irving still undecided about his future and the team also expected to make a run for Anthony Davis.