Despite now playing in his 16th season in the NBA, there's no denying that Al Horford still remains to be an important piece for the Boston Celtics. You have to credit the five-time All-Star for being able to still find a niche for himself with his team in spite of the fact that he's now 36 years old.
It is worth noting that Horford is now in the final year of his current deal with the Celtics. He's set to pocket $26.5 million this season, but it now appears that he's going to take a significant pay cut on his next deal. According to an unnamed Western Conference executive, they believe that Horford's going to be earning less than half of his current salary if and when he signs an extension next summer:
“Most of the teams with money next year are young,” said the exec, who estimated a two-year deal for Horford in the $20-25 million range, via Sean Deveney of heavy.com. “They’re not going to be lining up to give Horford a big contract. The Celtics will control the market on that. They’ll be fair to him but they are a tax team and they’ll need to watch every dime.”
It sounds like the Celtics will be in a much better position to negotiate once Horford's current deal is up. He's no spring chicken, and it isn't likely that Horford will find a better deal outside of Boston.
Nevertheless, another league source estimates a slightly higher annual salary for Horford:
“He can still play, he is in great shape,” the source said. “If you did around $13 million or $14 million a year, about $40 or $42 million total, that is what you’d expect to see. You never know how the market is going to play out on a guy like him, though.”
The good news for Celtics fans is that it sounds like Horford is going to remain in Boston. Then again, you never really know.
In 13 games played this season, Horford is averaging 11.5 points on 56.3 percent shooting, 6.9 rebounds, and 2.4 assists in 31.4 minutes per game. He's also knocking down a career-best 2.2 triples per game on a highly efficient 47.5-percent clip.
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