A deadline has been set. Al Horford will make his free agency decision tonight.
There remains a possibility that Horford could return to the Hawks — even after the free-agent signings of Dwight Howard and Kent Bazemore - but the Celtics and Wizards are currently the leaders for the services of the four-time All-Star.
The Hawks made a “very significant” offer to Horford on Friday, the first day of NBA free agency. However, based on the Hawks’ current salary-cap situation, he cannot agree to it at this point. Whether that offer still stands is unknown.
Horford has informed the Hawks of his timeline to choose a team this evening.
The Hawks still could open salary-cap space to sign such a deal with Horford, a mainstay of the organization for the past nine seasons. While there are a multitude of ways it could be done, the bottom line is that it will require the team to move salary. That may or may not mean a trade of Paul Millsap, but salary would have to be freed. Moves to re-sign Horford could deplete the bench.
While the Hawks must make a decision, so must Horford. He has options of his own. He has reportedly met with at least three teams — the Celtics, Wizards and Rockets — and is contemplating his future. One of those teams could offer him a max contract of four years, $113 million. The Hawks do hold Horford’s Bird Rights and could go over the salary cap to re-sign him beyond his $20 million cap hold. A max deal from the Hawks would be five years, $153 million. It is the same deal the Grizzlies gave Mike Conley, who has never been named to an All-Star team.
Whatever the outcome of the Horford contract situation, the Hawks still have work to do. They will need to obtain a backup point guard at some point.
Should the Hawks be able to bring back Horford and keep Millsap, they would potentially have a starting lineup of Dennis Schroder, Bazemore, Millsap, Horford and Howard. That would figure to be a competitive roster in the Eastern Conference. The Pacers appear to have improved. However, the Cavaliers are losing bench players, the Heat have lost Joe Johnson, Luol Deng and maybe Dwyane Wade, the Celtics have lost Evan Turner and the Raptors lost Bismack Biyombo.
While the Hawks continue to re-shape their roster, they still have a multitude of future draft picks in their arsenal that that they can use to get creative.
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