What if the Boston Celtics had re-signed Al Horford in 2019?

Such an alternative path taking shape instead of his exit to the Philadelphia 76ers could have resulted in very different roster moves and the retention of draft picks that could have strengthened the team.

Now that we are finally and truly in the depth of the NBA’s 2023 summer doldrums, a fair amount of content coming out about the league tends to focus on the future, with a decent serving of history dished out to fill in the gaps for those of us still looking to scratch an itch only the Association can reach.

But there is also the tried-and-true approach of hypothetical “what if” moments to ponder, such as a recent and expansive article on such a topic put together by ESPN’s Tim Bontemps. The Boston Celtics are among the teams included in Bontemps’ hypothetical, which focuses on if the Celtics had re-signed Al Horford in 2019.

Such an alternative path taking shape instead of his exit to the Philadelphia 76ers could have resulted in very different roster moves and the retention of draft picks that could have strengthened the team.