Earlier this week, the Golden State Warriors signed veteran free agent big man Al Horford to a multi-year deal ahead of his 19th NBA season. The former Boston Celtics center and 2024 NBA champion will look to add some frontcourt depth to a Warriors team that has been severely lacking in that area for several years now.
Recently, Horford spoke to the Bay Area press for the first time and broke down why he opted to leave Boston for the opportunity to sign with the Dubs.
“For me, if there was one place that I was going to leave for, it was this. Like I said earlier, it wasn't an easy decision for me to leave Boston, but if there was a place it was this one, and I happened to get this opportunity, so I jumped at it,” said Horford, per Anthony Slater of The Athletic on X, formerly Twitter.
Horford figures to bring perimeter shooting to the Warriors lineup, something Golden State hasn't had from the center position in quite some time. He'll also bring veteran experience, although Golden State isn't exactly lacking in that department considering their average starting lineup age of nearly 36.
Can the Warriors compete?
The Golden State Warriors enter this season hoping to stay healthy and give it one last run at a championship in the Stephen Curry era. Last year, the Warriors were unable to fulfill the first part of that statement, as Curry went down with a hamstring injury in the second round against the Minnesota Timberwolves, a series that the team ultimately lost in five games.
However, the Warriors put some of their championship metal on display in the series prior to that, knocking off an inexperienced Rockets squad that was motivated by that loss to add Kevin Durant in the offseason.
If healthy, the Warriors figure to have one of the better starting lineups in the league, but don't have a whole lot in the way of depth or young talent, even after re-signing Jonathan Kuminga earlier this week. And of course, the health aspect is quite the caveat for a team this old.
In any case, the Warriors are set to kick off their 2025-26 season on October 21 on the road against the Los Angeles Lakers.
