can you really believe the celts got horford

[WeMadeIt17]

Glad we have him. Will add a lot to this team. I like the pairing of him and either Amir or Kelly.

[LooseCannon]

It is not shocking to believe that a top-20 player in the league would choose to sign with the Celtics as a free agent.

[dannyboy35]

i think KO will benefit more than anyone if he's given the chance.

[2short]

One of those guys I've wanted since they come into the league.  Quality all around team player.  So last year we beat san fran and the lebronians with a center playing with bad feet, undersized chubby big, or a canuck who plays on perimeter…..

Liking our 1st and 2nd team.  We are super deep with a lot of very good-great defenders.  I think we'll miss Evan Turner  but with a healthy marcus, emerging rozier and young un brown i'm pretty happy.

[Surferdad]

Given that Al Horford may turn out to be no better than Jermaine O'Neal late in his career, I don't think there's much to get excited about unconditionally.

Also, we're not winning 60 games this season. Please. Over the past 3 years, there have been just 5 60-win record. That's harder than you think it is.

I can always count on you to be a rain storm at the first sign of a parade. I expect Horford to age significantly better than O'Neal who relied on athleticism to be a star early in his career and then faded when his athleticism did.

Can you do me a solid and say one positive thing about Horford?

Agreed about 60 wins, I think 55 is a possibility though.

JO was also plagued by injuries later in his career.  Horford, OTOH has taken care of his body (not that JO didn't try, but injuries are sometimes just bad luck) and is injury free as far as I know.  I don't think the trajectories for their late-stage careers will be at all the same, koz.

Another factor to not overlook is the positive professional influence Horford will have on the younger players on this team.  He will show, at least by example, how to do the right things off the court, working out, improving your craft, taking care of yourself.  The team spirit will almost certainly benefit.  I expect him to be a great leader on this team.

[CoachBo]

Considering the rest of the summer - the draft, other free agents and trades - was a total washout, not really.

Horford will help us - maybe a 5 win difference. But we're going to miss Evan Turner and you're going to see that Brown is a long-term project. Shame that's all we got out of the third pick, and one of the four Brooklyn picks.

Two of them are gone now. The pressure is on Ainge to get immediate help out of the other two, or signing Horford was a waste of time and more than $100 million. You don't bring Al in to play "Kick the Development Can Further Down the Road."

[SHAQATTACK]

Atlanta choosing Howard over Horford was economics / business.......everybody know Hawks have a hard time filling the stands even tho with an excellent team and coach on the floor. 

The drama lovers ,  curiosity seekers , non basketball types will be more attracted to Howard.

Horford is more a quiet all business Celtic type.

I'm guessing the FO pushed for Howard ,  a celebrity NBA star ,  TV queen , etc .......to help generate ticket sales ......

Probably truth known the players and coaches would rather Horford stayed ......

[86MaxwellSmart]

Considering the rest of the summer - the draft, other free agents and trades - was a total washout, not really.

Horford will help us - maybe a 5 win difference. But we're going to miss Evan Turner and you're going to see that Brown is a long-term project. Shame that's all we got out of the third pick, and one of the four Brooklyn picks.

Two of them are gone now. The pressure is on Ainge to get immediate help out of the other two, or signing Horford was a waste of time and more than $100 million. You don't bring Al in to play "Kick the Development Can Further Down the Road."

Post of the day...right on the money.

[hwangjini_1]

Given that Al Horford may turn out to be no better than Jermaine O'Neal late in his career, I don't think there's much to get excited about unconditionally.

Also, we're not winning 60 games this season. Please. Over the past 3 years, there have been just 5 60-win record. That's harder than you think it is.

there. just as probable, just as possible. but infinitely more positive. koz, your post added zero but negativity.

[Kane3387]

It still amazes me

[Chris22]

It's going to be a fun year.
I like that Ainge picked a player, Jaylen Brown, who is not too small or too weak for his position.

[Surferdad]

Considering the rest of the summer - the draft, other free agents and trades - was a total washout, not really.

Horford will help us - maybe a 5 win difference. But we're going to miss Evan Turner and you're going to see that Brown is a long-term project. Shame that's all we got out of the third pick, and one of the four Brooklyn picks.

Two of them are gone now. The pressure is on Ainge to get immediate help out of the other two, or signing Horford was a waste of time and more than $100 million. You don't bring Al in to play "Kick the Development Can Further Down the Road."

By "two of them" I assume you mean Turner and Sully. Oh yeah, I'm gonna miss them badly. 

Horford is going to make big difference for this team, and adding GGreen will definitely help with shooting and athleticism. Turner is a decent ballplayer but he can't shoot 3's like Green. Brown is really gravy but if he can improve his shot he is going to help this team in the long run.

But you are right about one thing: Horford isn't getting any younger.  That's why I predict Ainge will pull off a big trade at the deadline or perhaps next offseason.  His signing was no means a waste of time or money.

[max215]

It's still kind of amazing. He's going to help the guards, specifically Isaiah and Marcus, an unbelievable amount. I'm super excited.

[GreenWarrior]

unfortunately yes.

[jpotter33]

You win in the NBA with higher-end talent. Horford brings that, and he more than doubles any net loss that we lost with Turner and Sully. Simply having a two-way big man of Horford's caliber will do wonders for this team that relied primarily on the 1, 2, and 3 spots for success. I think people are really underselling how much he'll help our team this year. We'll be in the running for the best defensive team in the league, along with greatly improving our offense. Hell, just the spacing that he can provide that we didn't have last year is going to make IT's life so much easier offensively. A lineup of IT, AB, Crowder, KO, and Al will pretty much make IT unstoppable in his penetration game. Further, adding both Horford and Brown, along with Rozier getting more playing time, just makes us even more adept at the running, uptempo game that we excelled in last year.

I think the more interesting question is this - do you think we would've still got Horford if we would've beat Atlanta?

Though Durant's cowardly move to the team that took him out of the playoffs this year makes it seem more common, it's not really all that common that players, especially star players, will join the team that just knocked them out of the playoffs.