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It’s no secret that Philadelphia 76ers big man Al Horford had himself a rough first season in the City of Brotherly Love. He struggled to fit in next to Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons and the team struggled because of it entering the playoffs as the 6 seed and then being swept out of Round 1.
Horford finished the season averaging 11.9 points and 6.8 rebounds for his lowest averages since his rookie season with the Atlanta Hawks. He also shot a career-low 45% from the floor and only 35% from deep on 4.2 attempts with 4.0 assists.
For a guy who has been in the league 13 seasons, there is not much for him to learn anymore. However, this was one of those rare occasions where the veteran can learn something and move forward.
“I feel like I grew a lot as a basketball player,” said Horford. “We had a good group of guys, it just didn’t work out for us. We had different expectations even without Ben and it’s disappointing to finish this way.”
Horford then clarified what he meant by his growth as a basketball player. This was all entirely new to him and the move of going to Philadelphia meant having to play a new position at the power forward spot. It’s a spot he played in college next to Joakim Noah in Florida, but he has been a center his entire career in the NBA.
“A lot of adversity and figuring out how to play differently to what I’ve been accustomed to playing my whole career,” he explained. “This was a new experience for me and it’s something that I’ll definitely learn from. I will try to be better in the future.”
Considering the Sixers signed him to a 4-year $109 million deal in the 2019 offseason, they have to hope they can find a way to make it fit. That will be on the new coach the team hires, but it’s not like Horford is a bad player. This is a guy who is a 5-time All-Star and has a wealth of experience in the playoffs. He is a good player at the end of the day.
“That’s for the next coach to make that determination on how the lineups work, but Al Horford can fit on a championship-caliber team,” explained general manager Elton Brand. “Whatever that role is, we’re going to have to figure out, but he can fit.”
As Philadelphia embarks on their coaching search, they will have to ask the new coach to figure out how he plans to utilize not only Simmons and Embiid, but to fit Horford in as well. It will be an interesting offseason for a Sixers team at somewhat of a crossroads as they continue their chase for a championship. [lawrence-related id=37221,37214,37217]