The Boston Celtics recently made a showing on The Athletic’s John Hollinger’s list of best free agent contracts in the NBA via Marcus Smart, but find themselves with no such “honors” on Hollinger’s worst free agent contracts, recently released.
But that isn’t to say the Celtics couldn’t have gotten themselves on it, had they made a few decisions differently.
This is because two of the 10 worst in Hollinger’s estimation happen to have been signed as deals removing former Celtics from their Bostonian orbit — namely big man Al Horford and guard Terry Rozier.
It should be emphasized that their current contexts are no small part of the reason they have found themselves on this list, even if it is their own decisions that got them there.
One last time: The ten worst free-agent contracts right now, including Scary Terry and some long-forgotten dead moneyhttps://t.co/HCpDQXI2BP
— John Hollinger (@johnhollinger) June 17, 2020
At the moment Horford chose to pull the trigger on starting his journey with the Philadelphia 76ers, the Celtics were a disaster. There was no path to a starting role for Rozier in Boston.
As bad as their current situations are, it seemed quite plausible remaining would be worse.
With that said, the deals team president Danny Ainge and the rest of the front office probably wouldn’t have looked like these did, and that’s okay.
You almost always have to overpay to land a free agent — unless the situation has been leveraged a la Kemba Walker — and the teams that signed Horford and Rozier did.
To that end, Rozier found himself the fifth-worst value in the league for Hollinger. Why?
“The Hornets made a bad problem worse when they responded to Kemba Walker’s free agency by sending their 2020 second-round pick to Boston and turning it into a sign-and-trade for Rozier. Rozier was unlikely to live up to his three-year, $57 million deal, and the Hornets almost immediately discovered that they already had a better point guard lying around in Devonte Graham.”
The Athletic analyst sees Rozier as a minimum player, though admittedly because of his rough fit with the Hornets and rougher exit from the Celtics.
Locked and loaded, Terry Rozier is ready to prove himself in Charlotte https://t.co/LztzTTaEEo
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) July 9, 2019
And Horford?
Right behind him as the sixth-worst value in Hollinger’s opinion — though here, fit is an even bigger issue.
“Well, that was a lot to pay an insurance center. In its second major mistake of the 2019 offseason, Philadelphia went all-in on Horford in free agency after watching a series of sub-replacement-level backup 5s sabotage all their non-Joel Embiid minutes in 2018-19.”
It’s quite possible that, in another system, Horford would be earning his keep or at least close to it. But to spend that kind of money just to be able to deploy the five-time All-Star at a handful of big men (and to not have to deal with him being deployed on them) seems an incredibly short-sighted plan.
How much will it cost the Boston Celtics to retain Al Horford? https://t.co/Z1fg3V1G9O
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) February 21, 2019
Sometimes, the grass isn’t as green as it looks, and opportunities much smaller than they seem.
There is small consolation that both of these players might find themselves moved to a better situation in the offseason, where they might flourish a bit more than they will in their current contexts.
And no small bit of relief that these two former Celtics have been well paid — and by another team at that.
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