Now that we're almost to the end of the regular season, it's gotten kind of easy to forget just how wild the Golden State Warriors' last offseason was. And not wild in a good, exciting way.
In fact, it was actually more frustrating than anything. As Jonathan Kuminga's restricted free agency dragged on, the Warriors were essentially unable to sign any players until they knew what exceptions they had in line. They had agreed to "handshake" deals with players like Al Horford, De'Anthony Melton, Gary Payton II, and Seth Curry.
But apart from Horford, these were players with essentially no other suitors on the open market. Would Golden State have been able to make a bigger splash if they weren't burdened by Kuminga's contract situation? Would it have made any difference this season?
The time for reflection will come when the dust settles on this season. But as a result of their stagnancy, the Warriors' hand was forced in negotiating Horford's contract, granting him a two-year deal with a player option.
Now, that decision could leave them in a highly uncomfortable scenario this offseason.
Al Horford has a player option this offseason, and he could make things awkward for the Warriors
At this point in his career, Horford deserves to compete for a championship. He's still got juice as a shooter and a help defender in the paint, and he should get the opportunity to serve as a rotational player on a championship-contending team.
There's serious doubts about whether the Warriors will be that type of squad next year. If Horford were to decline his player option and enter the open market, no one would be surprised.
But there's another scenario entirely that could put Golden State in between a rock and a hard place. In Greg Swartz at Bleacher Report's recent list of players who could soon be on the trade block, he included Horford as his selection for the Warriors.
For this to happen, Horford would need to opt into his player option and then demand a trade. This is definitely not outside of the realm of possibility.
Horford is set to make $6 million next year, a number that likely exceeds the contract he would get in free agency. This would leave the Warriors in a highly tenuous situation. They would have no choice but to trade Horford if he asked for it.
But is he someone Golden State would truly be eager to get rid of? Conversely, while his contract would be easy to match, what sort of player would another team be willing to ship off for someone at Horford's age?
The Warriors don't want to bring in a useless contract, and they need to spend this offseason focusing on adding strong rotational players to their roster. If Horford's going to leave, they would likely prefer if he just declined his player option and entered the market.
But they've left themselves in a vulnerable position by giving him the player option in the first place.