Steve Kerr has already lauded the free agency addition of Al Horford over the past week, but it's more than just the 3-point shooting that made the veteran center a perfect signing for the Golden State Warriors this offseason.
Despite the Warriors revolutionizing the game with their 3-point shooting in the last dozen years, Kerr has always put an emphasis on the defensive side of the ball. Just last season Golden State surged into the playoffs and reached the second-round thanks to their defense, having led the league in that area after the All-Star break.
Horford's defensive versatility might be what makes him, even at 39-years-old, the ideal center within Kerr's offense, particularly compared to another veteran the Warriors could have forseeably targeted during the summer.
Warriors defense would have taken a hit signing Brook Lopez
From the moment Golden State were eliminated by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the second-round of the playoffs, discussion on the need for a veteran stretch big was prominent. Yet it was Brook Lopez rather than Horford that was seen as a potential target, particularly after ESPN's Bobby Marks linked them to the former Stanford product during an episode of NBA Today in May.
Had the Warriors gone down the Lopez path, they would have had to completely change their defensive scheme given his desire to play in drop coverage. Golden State like bigs who can step out onto the perimeter capably when required, something Lopez has struggled with and which has limited the Milwaukee Bucks defensively over the past couple of years.
Analyst Kevin O'Connor of Yahoo Sports even recently discussed the likelihood of the Bucks being far better defensively after letting Lopez go and acquiring Myles Turner in free agency.
“One year ago, before the Bucks brought back Brook Lopez, there were rumors about how they wanted to play a more versatile style of defense. They wanted to modernize what they were doing on that end of things. And I think when you look at their rotation now, this Bucks team on paper, this has the upside to be a really great defensive team," O'Connor said.
Horford's defensive versatility was already on display in the preseason opener against the Los Angeles Lakers, having recorded three blocks in less than 15 minutes in a display that had Kerr praising the 39-year-old's early impact at the franchise.
Lopez is still likely to have positive impact for the L.A. Clippers after signing a two-year, $17.9 million contract, but that's somewhat because they're not relying on him to be a starting center given the presence of Ivica Zubac.
That wouldn't have been the case at the Warriors who had a huge void to fill, with Horford a much better fit to Kerr's system on both ends of the ball while also eventually coming cheaper than what Lopez did to the Clippers.