Philadelphia heads into the offseason with several needs, one being ridding itself of Al Horford‘s contract. The 76ers signed Horford to a four-year, $109 million deal last offseason and it’s no secret that it simply hasn’t worked out.
Trading Horford will be problematic due to his deal and there’s speculation that Philadelphia may have to attach its first-round pick (No. 20 overall selection) to Horford in order to move him.
Only six teams are projected to have enough cap space to simply absorb Horford’s $27.5 million 2020/21 salary, per Spotrac, and that’s assuming that each renounces their cap holds and there’s no massive reduction in basketball-related income courtesy of the shorted/bubbled 2019/20 season. (Let’s make those assumptions for the moment.)
Of the Hawks, Knicks, Pistons, Kings, Pelicans, and Hornets, it’s hard to find a real fit.
There’s been a lot of speculation about Horford ending up in Sacramento, though the Kings struck gold with Richaun Holmes‘ cheap deal after flirting with Horford during the 2019 offseason. The Pelicans are not going to sacrifice future flexibility by stashing Horford in the paint with Zion Williamson and the Pistons aren’t going to pair Horford’s deal with Blake Griffin‘s in their frontcourt.
Surely, the Hornets could look to add Horford and jog back on the treadmill of mediocrity or the Knicks could add him as they look for some stability, but the veteran isn’t going to be pleased with either of those options given their unlikely paths to immediate contention. And the Hawks? While a reunion would be nice, they just added Clint Capela and it would be an odd move if they looked to bring back their former No. 3 overall pick.
Philadelphia is probably going to have to give up that first-rounder and take back some contracts if and when the Sixers trade away their elder big man unless they find another way to get creative (such as package Horford with someone like Josh Richardson or place the big man alongside one of their stars in a bigger deal).
