A critical Boston Celtics free agent is expected to join a rival club next week.
Per Marc Stein of Substack's The Stein Line, champion Celtics power forward/center Al Horford is expected to finally sign with the Golden State Warriors next week, following a tumultuous summer of uncertainty surrounding Golden State power forward Jonathan Kuminga's restricted free agency.
Monday Best column with the latest free agency, trade and roster talk as five NBA training camps open this week: https://t.co/62aklAqycD pic.twitter.com/Rtde3qCZVO
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) September 22, 2025
"Warriors veterans are expected to convene for a mini-camp of their own later this week before Golden State's training camp officially opens Sept. 30," Stein writes. "That knowledge inevitably makes you wonder how many of the familiar names Golden State has been expected for the past several weeks to sign once the Kuminga situation is resolved — Al Horford, De'Anthony Melton and Gary Payton II — can/will participate in that gathering if they haven't officially signed with the Warriors yet. None of those players can sign, remember, until after Kuminga does."
Horford, 39, will suit up for his 19th pro season.
The 6-foot-9 big man out of Florida continues to burnish his legacy as a fringe possible future Hall of Famer. Horford is a five-time All-Star, one-time All-NBA honoree, one-time All-Defensive Teamer, and was the primary center on a championship team. Although he was hired as a reserve, he wound up stepping in for nominal starting five Kristaps Porzingis during both of Boston's playoff runs with the latter big man.
Provided this deal goes down, Horford will serve as the first high level floor-spacing, starting-caliber center of All-NBA point guard Stephen Curry's career.
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In 60 healthy games for the 61-21 Celtics last season, Horford averaged 9.0 points on .423/.363/.895 shooting splits, 6.2 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 0.9 blocks and 0.6 steals per.
Golden State's training camp this year is set to tip off on September 30. It's conceivable the Warriors will still be without Horford, Melton and Payton for a few practices, Stein writes.
Stein adds that the Warriors will also look to bring in Curry's sharpshooting little brother, Seth.
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