Boston Celtics agree to a two-year, $20 million contract extension with five-time all-star Al Horford as starting center Robert Williams continues to miss time with injury issues
Veteran center Al Horford and the Boston Celtics have agreed on a two-year, $20 million contract extension that ties him to the franchise until 2025.
The five-time all-star is currently completing the final year of a four-year deal that sees him earning $26.5 million this season alone.
The new deal, which will start in the 2023-23 season, will tie him to the Celtics through to his 39th birthday in 2025, according to ESPN.
Horford’s new deal also eliminates the possibility of a repeat of the 2019 offseason when Horford left the Celtics in free agency for a more lucrative deal.
Veteran center Al Horford has signed a two-year $20 million extension with the Boston Celtics
Horford’s new deal will keep him with the team through his 39th birthday in 2025
Horford has undergone a career resurgence during his second stint in Boston and is playing at a much more efficient level than he had during his stints in Philadelphia and Oklahoma.
He has also provided excellent cover for starting center Robert Williams who has missed significant time with injury every year since he came into the league in 2018.
Williams is also yet to play any of the Celtics 22 games this season, after undergoing a knee operation in September.
Last season Williams played a career high 61 games in the regular season, before being used sparingly in the playoffs after returning from an injury.
Horford has provided excellent cover for starting center Robert Williams who has been injured
Out of the 10 different playoff series the Celtics have played in since Williams was drafted to the team, he has only played in more than three games in a single series three times.
Horford meanwhile is averaging 10.9 points and 6.3 rebounds in 31 minutes a game this season and anchoring the Celtics’ front-line absence of Williams.
The 36-year-old has shot 55.5 percent from the floor, and 48.8 percent on 3-pointers, the third-highest percentage among centers, according to ESPN Stats & Info data.
Even with Horford now off the market the free agent class at center still includes several talented players including, Indiana’s Myles Turner, Chicago’s Nikola Vucevic, Milwaukee’s Brook Lopez, Dallas’ Christian Wood and San Antonio’s Jakob Poeltl.
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