The Boston Celtics were a dominant force throughout the 2024-25 regular season campaign as they reached the 60-win plateau for the No. 2 overall seed in the Eastern Conference. Now, the Celtics will look to carry that momentum into the playoffs as they look to defend their title and bring back-to-back championships to Boston.
While a number of key pieces of the rotation are locked in for years to come with Boston, one veteran contributor to their title team in 2024 could very well be making his final run with the Celtics once the postseason tips off as a number of different factors point to this being his last season in Boston.
Celtics' Al Horford is as Good as Gone After the NBA Playoffs
Horford is in the final season of a two-year, $19.5 million deal he signed with the Celtics prior to the 2023-24 campaign. While those numbers may not seem that outrageous compared to other NBA contracts being signed these days, Boston has one of the most expensive rosters in the league and thanks to the new rules in the league's CBA, as explained by ESPN's Bobby Marks, the Celtics could very well field a roster that costs over $500 million for the 2025-26 season when you take into account the penalties Boston will have to pay under the NBA's luxury tax.
When you take into account that Horford will be 39 years old by the time that training camp opens this fall, coupled with the possibilty that there will be other franchises out there that could be willing to pay him more than the veteran's minimum, the likelihood of the former Florida Gators standout returning to Boston after this year's playoff run seems to be a longshot, despite Horford stating he feels he can continue to play in the NBA beyond this season.
“I want to keep playing,” Horford told Steve Bulpett of Heavy on Sports, via Adam Taylor of CelticsChronicle.com."...I just look at the opportunity that’s in front of us now, and, you know, you’ve got to take advantage of this. You play in the league a lot of years, and to be in a team that’s contending and playing at a high level, I mean, it doesn’t get any better than that...Having a group of guys like this, I think we help one another...I feel like we try to make the game easier for each other, and we can lean on one another. We've got a good thing going."
There is no doubt that Horford has remained a steady contributor for Boston this season, especially during periods where Kristaps Porzingis was sidelined, but unless he is willing to take a rather substantial pay cut, the minimum salary for a player with 10 years of service or more is projected to be just over $3.6 million for the 2025-26 campaign, the Celtics will have to think long and hard about the implications that would come with going anywhere beyond that number to retain Horford.
Perhaps the biggest factor of all in this decision is the fact that a new ownership group is in place as Wyc Grousbeck agreed to sell the franchise to a group led by Bill Chisholm for a record $6.1 billion. Despite Chisholm being a longtime Celtics fan, things can change quickly when it is your money that is being spent rather than someone else's.
We will find out soon enough whether or not that is the deciding factor when it comes to Horford's future in Boston but, in the meantime, the veteran big man and his teammates have one thought on their mind and that is winning a 19th NBA championship this summer.