Al Horford has been a solid big man for the majority of his career. At 29 years old, Horford hasn’t stopped growing as a player. Each year he has developed his shot, and improved in every way. He has been an amazing fit for the Hawks, as he moves the ball well and spreads the floor with his deadly mid-range jumper. He has also developed a three-point shot this year to add to his arsenal of scoring.
Recently, Mark Spears of Yahoo! mentioned that the Hawks will listen to offers from other teams regarding Horford before the February 18th trade deadline.
“The Hawks can put together a strong offer from a financial and familiarity standpoint, but are expected to listen to teams that inquire about Horford because they don’t want to risk losing him for nothing, league sources said. The NBA trade deadline is Feb. 18.”
Horford, a three-time All-Star, is extremely valuable to the Hawks. According to Mike Budenholzer, Al knows just how much he is valued by his current team.
“Al is a big part of our program and knows how much we value him,” Hawks president and head coach Mike Budenholzer told Yahoo Sports. “Our focus and job remain the same, and that is building the best program possible and establishing a culture that Al and any other player would want to be part of. He is the type of player we want to continue building with now and into the future.”
Horford has been one of the Hawks’ best players since the Hawks drafted him in 2007, and he has had an great career there. The Hawks will likely do whatever they can to keep him, but losing him for nothing would really hurt the Hawks. They will lose their franchise center and get nothing in return for him. Trading Horford now would ensure that they won’t lose him for nothing, and it may be a good opportunity for the Hawks, who have also listened to offers for PG Jeff Teague, to acquire a good rebounder to replace him.
Horford also spoke with Yahoo! about free agency this off season, and he said that there is bigger, more appealing cities that he could go to.
“Atlanta has the potential for a guy like myself to maximize [the business] part of it,” Horford told Yahoo Sports. “But obviously there are other cities, bigger cities that are more appealing.”
Horford sounds like he will give strong consideration to other teams this off season, and that may be bad news for the Hawks. He will be heavily pursued this off season, so looking to trade him now might not hurt. A team will have to make a great offer to try and move a guy like Horford out of Atlanta that will likely include giving the Hawks a strong rebounder.
