Boston Celtics And Brad Stevens Get High Marks For Al Horford Decision

A little more than a year ago, when the Celtics pulled off the trade that sent point guard Kemba Walker to the Thunder for big man Al Horford, the reviews were less than stellar. Celtics team president Brad Stevens, then only weeks into his new post-coaching job, tried to explain that adding Horford would mean the Celtics gain financial flexibility as well as, “a really good player who has corporate knowledge of this environment, that’s really excited to be back in Boston and has a good feel for not only playing with our guys but also has made them better,” but not many were buying it.

ESPN rated the trade a C-plus for the Celtics, with Kevin Pelton explaining that, “From a basketball standpoint, I’m not sure Boston got any better with this deal. … Walker was a more productive player in 2020-21 than Horford, and point guard is probably now a bigger need than center was for the Celtics beforehand.”

Sporting News saw it a notch worse, a C-minus. Writer Jacob Camenker noted that Boston had a long list of centers and that, “The veteran Horford may have trouble finding a role in Boston.”

CBS Sports was kinder, giving the Celtics a B on the deal, but for the wrong reasons—it saw the fact that Horford made less money than Walker as the chief benefit. “This move is more about financial flexibility for the Celtics than the players who they get back in the Walker trade,” Jasmyn Wimbish wrote, noting the Celtics would be in position to create cap space to pursue the likes of Bradley Beal and Zach LaVine in 2022 free agency, which will not and was never really going to be the case.

Horford Rewards Stevens’ Faith

And here we are, eight weeks removed from the Horford trade, wondering whether Horford—not Jayson Tatum or Jaylen Brown, the Celtics’ two high-scoring stars—ought to be the MVP of the Eastern Conference finals. His case is strong: After missing Game 1 in the league’s health and safety protocols, Horford has averaged 12.8 points, 9.3 rebounds and 3.5 assists in the subsequent four games, shooting an incredible 60.7% from the field and 63.6% from the 3-point line.

His offensive rating for the series, according to NBA.com/stats, is 119.1 points per 100 possessions, which is second on the team. His defensive rating, 96.5, is also second, and his net rating of 22.6—yes, Boston is 22.6 points per 100 possessions better when he is on the floor—is the best on the team. With Brown averaging 25.0 points and Tatum averaging 23.8, Horford won’t win the series MVP, but the advanced-stats folks have a good argument.

But that’s not the real story here. What’s eye-opening about Horford is just that we were all so wrong about how his return to Boston would help drive an improbable Celtics resurgence, after having spent two wayward years in Philadelphia, then in Oklahoma City. He was, after all, 35 and apparently too old and slow to play alongside another big man anymore. He was a disaster next to Joel Embiid with the Sixers, and though he put up good numbers for the woebegone Thunder, he played only 28 games.

What we missed, though, is what Stevens saw—Horford would be rejuvenated back in Boston, that his “corporate knowledge” would make him a seamless fit. He could not have known Horford would be playing at the level he’s at now, that he’d be, arguably, as valuable as anyone on the team here in late May, but Stevens deserves credit for recognizing what Horford could add to a team that missed him over the previous two seasons. He also recognized that Horford’s presence alone would be a benefit to Tatum and Brown.

“Al’s been great for me,” Tatum said this week. “I’ve been fortunate enough to play with Al for three years. And I remember coming in my rookie year and seeing Al Horford. I’d been seeing him play my whole life. And it was great to see somebody take care of their body, you know, just be the ultimate professional, the ultimate teammate. Just all about the right things. Nobody can ever say anything bad about Al.”

Last July, when the Celtics made the trade with Oklahoma City, some did have unkind—or, at least, unsupportive—words for Al. That’s changed.