With the 2016 NBA Trade Deadline just a few days away, here’s a look at 15 potential Al Horford trades.
If the season ended today, the Atlanta Hawks would have home-court advantage in the first round of the NBA Playoffs with a 31-21 record. But in spite of their top-four standing in the Eastern Conference, this team is a far cry from the one that won 60 games last year and was seen as a dark horse title contender.
Given the fact that DeMarre Carroll is gone and several of the Hawks’ All-Stars from last season are having down years, a drop-off was to be expected. But with Mike Budenholzer’s squad failing to inspire the same optimism from last season, the front office is reportedly entertaining deals for Al Horford, Jeff Teague and Kyle Korver at the trade deadline.
It won’t be long before the 27-year-old Teague and his backup Dennis Schroder are competing for minutes, so his name being included makes sense. Korver is having an “off” shooting year, but plenty of teams would give up an appealing draft pick of some sort for his three-point shooting on the wing.
But Horford is a relative surprise, even with the nine-year Hawks veteran becoming an unrestricted free agent this summer. However, the front office is rightfully queasy about re-signing Horford to the massive five-year, $144.5 million extension he’d be eligible for, especially since he’s set to turn 30 in June.
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Averaging 15.3 points, 6.9 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.5 blocks per game, Horford is one of the better two-way players in the league. As a big with the ability to spread the floor all the way out to three-point territory (34.0 percent this year) and do all the little things it takes to win, Horford would be a tremendous asset to contenders and rebuilding teams alike.
According to a report from Sporting News, Horford doesn’t want to leave Atlanta and the feeling is mutual, but that won’t stop the Hawks from taking trade calls leading up to the Feb. 18 deadline.
Whether the Hawks would be dealing Horford to retool the roster for a playoff run or blow it up to start from scratch remains to be seen, but either way, plenty of teams would have reason to be interested in trading for Horford — impending free agency or not. Here are 15 hypothetical trade scenarios for Horford, including a couple of honorable mentions.
Next: Honorable Mentions