With 28 games left in the 2020-21 NBA season, the Oklahoma City Thunder have shut down veteran center Al Horford, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
The Thunder have been deliberate about sitting Horford throughout the season. In nights of back-to-back games, Horford had sat in at least one every time this season, and these days off have increased since the All-Star break, during which he has played four of the eight games entering Saturday.
With the trade deadline having passed and no teams submitting an offer for the center that the Thunder approved of — if any offers at all –Horford has been taken out of the rotation to make more time for the young players.
General manager Sam Presti has told Horford’s agent that the team will work to find a trade destination “that fits better with this stage of his career,” Wojnarowski tweeted.
Horford plans to remain w/ OKC teammates and train at the team’s facility. After season, Horford will have 2 years, $53M left on deal and Sam Presti has pledged to work w/ Horford and his agent Jason Glushon on finding a destination that fits better with this stage of his career. https://t.co/TjNoJ4w2zE
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) March 27, 2021
Horford was acquired in a trade with the Philadelphia 76ers last offseason in a deal that was more about Philly’s determination to move off his salary than the Thunder’s desire for the veteran. Oklahoma City received Horford, the draft rights to Theo Maledon and Vasilije Micic and a future protected first-round draft pick in exchange for Danny Green, Terrance Ferguson and Vincent Poirier.
Horford, whose fit on the Sixers next to center Joel Embiid was not ideal, returned to form on the Thunder. He averaged 14.2 points, 6.7 rebounds and 3.4 assists, shot 36.8% from 3 (second-best of his career, among qualified seasons) on 5.4 attempts (most of his career), played strong defense and overall looked more like the player he was on the Boston Celtics than the player he was in Philadelphia.
With 7-foot forward Aleksej Pokusevski and 7-foot-2 center Moses Brown returning from the G League and playing much improved basketball since rejoining the Thunder, Oklahoma City needed to find more time for the development of them and other young players. Additionally, the trade for Tony Bradley creates another hole that the Thunder may need to find minutes for, after they’re done speaking with his representation.
Now, Horford will officially take the bench. He has two years and $53 million remaining on his contract, but it’s a bill that doesn’t look as onerous as it did last offseason.
[lawrence-related id=443557,443540]
[mm-video type=video id=01f1n7js5x6j65y3dd playlist_id=01f09kz5ecxq9bp57b player_id=01f1jxkahtwnvzepyp image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01f1n7js5x6j65y3dd/01f1n7js5x6j65y3dd-4659e7c447135835c7133ed7d6d3ffcd.jpg]