Al Horford had his options this summer, but the five-time All-Star ultimately chose to join the Sixers. While the decision to opt out of his deal with the Celtics wasn't an easy one, once he made that choice, the high level of interest that was shown in his services from Elton Brand and other team officials sealed the deal with Philly:
Article Continues Below“When I decided to opt out, it wasn’t an easy decision, but I did it, and I felt like there was going to be a lot of options for me,” Horford said, per Ben Rohrbach of Yahoo Sports during Friday morning's introductory press conference. “When June 30 came around, things escalated very, very quickly.”
“There were multiple teams, a lot of strong interest, and I had to make what was the best decision for me,” Horford added. “When Elton called and spoke with my agent, he laid down his offer, and I was very surprised there was that strong interest for me. It made the decision very easy.”
Horford agreed to the terms of a four-year, $97 million contract, with incentives that could get the deal to $109 million. He should be a fine addition to Philly's roster, and alongside Joel Embiid, the Sixers will have one of the more talented frontcourts in the NBA.
In his 68 appearances with the Celtics last season (all starts), Horford racked up averages of 13.6 points on 53.5 percent shooting from the field (36.0 percent from beyond the arc), 6.7 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.3 blocks and just under one steal (0.9) in 29.0 minutes per outing.