While Al Horford's official signing can't come until a resolution on the future of Jonathan Kuminga, the Golden State Warriors did make a confirmed agreement with the veteran center in the 24 hours leading up to media day.
Horford's acquisition is a major and long-anticipated move for the Warriors, having first been linked to the 5x All-Star in the hours leading up to free agency at the start of July. The Horford signing already appears an excellent one within itself given the needs of the Golden State roster, but it looks even better when you consider the Warriors ability to keep the 39-year-old patient even to this point.
The Celtics admit they wanted to bring back Al Horford
There's no doubt that plenty of Warrior fans have been left frustrated and often times anxious about the Horford wait, and rightly so given he'd easily fit at a number of contending teams around the league.
Even prying Horford out from underneath the Boston Celtics is a feat within itself, having been such an embedded part of their fabric and culture for seven of the past nine seasons. Despite their payroll constraints that limited their financial flexibility this summer, Celtics general manager Brad Stevens admitted at media day that the franchise wanted to bring Horford back for his 19th NBA season.
"He deserves to make whatever decision he wants. We tried. We offered both Al and Luke (Kornet) the opportunity to stay," Stevens said.
The opportunity to stay might have only been on a minimum contract, but it wouldn't have been totally surprising if Horford chose to take that up given the stability in the Boston area.
Instead the Warriors clearly convinced him to move to the Bay Area from early in the free agency process, then continued to reassure him throughout the long wait when he could have easily lost patience and taken up a deal at the Celtics or elsewhere.
In a way it's sad that Boston wanted to keep a much-loved player and he chose to leave, but in another Golden State deserve credit for aiming in on their target and getting it done. For all the disappointment and angst that's come from their offseason inactivity, this is an excellent signing and one that's worthy of applause from the fanbase.
Now the Warriors just need to make sure Horford fits as well with them as he did with the Celtics, rather than having a repeat of last time he left and joined the Philadelphia 76ers in a season that didn't quite go according to plan.