Al Horford will enter his 20th NBA season once again on a minutes restriction, but the Golden State Warriors may have to rely on the veteran center to be a starter at certain points during the regular season.
Having Horford start any games as a 40-year-old at this point of his career is a problem, yet one the Warriors may have to reckon with as they plan for games that Kristaps Porzingis will inevitably miss this season.
Warriors have an Al Horford problem that's hard to ignore
Horford started in 13 of his 45 games during his first year with Golden State. There's little doubt Steve Kerr would prefer that starting number to be zero, leaving real intrigue on how the Warriors manage both Horford and Porzingis once the season gets underway.
Not only is it difficult to restrict a player to 20-22 minutes if they're in a starting role, but Golden State ideally need Horford healthy and feeling good come the playoffs rather than burdening him with increased responsibility during the regular season.
So, what do the Warriors do on nights Porzingis is out? Their other options outside of starting Horford are going small and moving Draymond Green to the five, or giving Charles Bassey an opportunity as their third-string big. Either way, Kerr would have to change some things given neither Green or Bassey share similar skillsets (i.e. shooting) to Porzingis and Horford.
This is where bringing back Quinten Post would have been ideal. The young center could have filled in as a starter when Porzingis was out, allowing Horford to remain in a bench role while still having a stretch big at the five.
Golden State ultimately lost Post in restricted free agency, understandably letting the seven-footer leave for the Memphis Grizzlies after they offered an incentive-based, not fully guaranteed three-year contract that the front office declined to match.
Warriors desperately need availability from Kristaps Porzingis and Al Horford
The Warriors have admitted they're taking a gamble by prioritizing talent over availability this summer. That risk is no more glaring than with Porzingis and Horford who combined to play in just 77 games last season.
Golden State desperately need greater availability from the former Boston Celtics duo this season, otherwise their hopes of a return to the playoffs might be on life support by the time Jimmy Butler and Moses Moody return from injury.
The Warriors clearly have some optimism given they delivered Horford a two-year contract, but they'll be surely hoping to keep his starts to a minimum even if the five-time All-Star can play in 55-60+ games.
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