BREAKING: 5-Time All-Star Confirms Return to Boston Celtics Next Season
The Boston Celtics plan to reunite their championship-winning team next season, including a key player from their title run.
Center Al Horford will not be retiring this summer. Celtics governor Wyc Grousbeck confirmed on The Greg Hill Show on Tuesday, June 18, that Horford will return to Boston this fall for his 18th season.
“Al is coming back for next year,” Grousbeck stated. “That’s what I’ve been told. Ironically, we won in [2008] over Al’s team. The [Atlanta] Hawks took us to seven in the first round. So we were part of his drought, and now he came home to us. He loves it here — he and his family love it here. He couldn’t be happier, and we are also happy to have him.”
Horford, a five-time All-Star who last earned a selection during his first stint with the Celtics in 2017-18, has one year left on a two-year, $19.5 million contract.
Al Horford Helped Celtics Win NBA Title Despite Injuries to Kristaps Porzingis
Horford was an invaluable member of Boston’s rotation during the playoffs, particularly after an injury to Kristaps Porzingis sidelined the team’s starting center from the middle of the first round until Game 1 of the Finals.
Horford averaged 9.2 points, 7 rebounds, and 2.1 assists across 19 postseason games, according to StatMuse. He also connected on nearly 37% of his 3-point attempts, providing the floor spacing the Celtics need to exploit mismatches in their five-out scheme.
While defenses don’t have to respect Horford as they do Porzingis as an explosive offensive threat, Horford was more than capable in his role.
At 38, Horford may not offer the same rim protection as Porzingis, but he remains versatile on defense, regularly switching and effectively keeping quality offensive players in front of him, as seen against the Dallas Mavericks in the Finals.
ESPN’s Tim Bontemps noted that Horford is significantly more impactful when playing between 25-30 minutes. However, even when he had to extend his minutes into the mid-30s or up to 40 minutes (as he did twice during the Eastern Conference Finals against the Indiana Pacers), Horford demonstrated he still had enough stamina to shoulder the load at the center position.
Jayson Tatum on Verge of Signing Richest Contract in NBA History With Celtics
With Horford’s return confirmed by Grousbeck, the Celtics appear poised to retain the top six players in their rotation.
Finals MVP Jaylen Brown has signed a deal keeping him with the team through 2028. Jrue Holiday has also extended his contract through 2027. Jayson Tatum and Kristaps Porzingis are under contract through 2025.
Furthermore, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reported on NBA Countdown that Boston will soon offer Tatum the largest deal in league history, securing his presence through the end of the decade.
“Once these NBA Finals are over, the teams are now allowed to start negotiating contract extensions and negotiating with their own free agents, which means that the Celtics will soon present Jayson Tatum with the largest contract extension in NBA history — a five-year, $315 million extension,” Wojnarowski said.
The only player left to consider is Derrick White, who remains under contract through next season on a four-year, $70 million deal that pays him over $20 million for the 2024-25 campaign. Talks of an extension between White and Boston could begin as early as this summer.