# Is Al Horford a great player?



## ATLien (Jun 18, 2002)

Tommy Heinsohn: Horford not a great player

http://www.ajc.com/news/sports/basketball/heinsohn-horford-not-a-great-player/nq674/



> “They (the Celtics) had to be totally despondent going into the locker room. The fact that they turned it around shows what kind of heart this basketball team has. That is the encouraging part. The additional encouraging part is if they can go out and stay aggressive at both ends of the floor, they can beat this team because (Al) Horford, as much as you think he’s a great player, he’s not a great player. Get a man on him and he has trouble scoring.”


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## jayk009 (Aug 6, 2003)

Yes he's a great player


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## BlakeJesus (Feb 1, 2006)

I feel like "great" is too vague of a term to really know how to respond. Is he an All-Time great? No. Is he the best he's ever been at this point in his career? No. Is he even the best player in the team right now? No.

But he's still a high quality player who you can win with and he would be highly coveted around the league if he hit the open market.


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## ATLien (Jun 18, 2002)

BlakeJesus said:


> But he's still a high quality player who you can win with and he would be highly coveted around the league if he hit the open market.


Should Atlanta give Horford the max this summer?


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## RollWithEm (Jul 16, 2002)

The new max will be both insanely high and also given to many players who don't deserve it with all the crazy amounts of cap space on the immediate horizon. Through that lens, I think he might just be a max player.


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## Dissonance (Jul 21, 2004)

Also, too have to consider the source: Tommy Heinsohn


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## BlakeJesus (Feb 1, 2006)

ATLien said:


> Should Atlanta give Horford the max this summer?


If he is saying, give me the max or this team will...you have to pay to play. The hope is he listens to basketball reasons and takes a team friendly deal to retire with the Hawks. Now that doesn't have to mean he takes a Tim Duncan like contract, just not the very max of maxes.

Though if push comes to shove they should, at a minimum, max him to keep the asset.


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## Da Grinch (Aug 17, 2002)

he isn't a great scorer but , he is a great talent who has evolved into the player his team needs .

and if he were a celtic instead of a hawk ol' tommy's viewpoint would be much different .


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## RollWithEm (Jul 16, 2002)

Da Grinch said:


> and if he were a celtic instead of a hawk ol' tommy's viewpoint would be much different .


If Boston signs him this offseason, I think Tommy will call him a hybrid of Robert Parish, Paul Silas, Dave Cowens, and Bill Russell.


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## ChrisWoj (May 17, 2005)

ATLien said:


> Should Atlanta give Horford the max this summer?


Considering who all is going to get the max, aside from the fact that the max is going to be ridiculous this summer, he is someone who deserves the max. He's absolutely a great player - it just happens that the weakest of his skills is scoring. His weakness as a scorer, for example, is far more solid than James Harden's defense. A Harden-like player is going to be demonstrably more valuable in the final seconds of a shot clock, final minutes of a game - but the things Horford provides over the rest of the time make up for that and even out the equation.

Without a doubt worth the max in my eyes.


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## ChrisWoj (May 17, 2005)

BlakeJesus said:


> If he is saying, give me the max or this team will...you have to pay to play. The hope is he listens to basketball reasons and takes a team friendly deal to retire with the Hawks. Now that doesn't have to mean he takes a Tim Duncan like contract, just not the very max of maxes.
> 
> Though if push comes to shove they should, at a minimum, max him to keep the asset.


A Tim Duncan-like contract for someone Horford's age would be a lot closer to the max than 10 million. At age 30 Duncan's salary was escalating toward the 20 millions. He didn't take that drastic cut until he was 36.


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## e-monk (Sep 10, 2010)

Horford is a very good (not great) well rounded player but to Tommy's point Atlanta needs some scoring options and is very beatable because they lack a dynamic big dog go to guy


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## The Direktor (Apr 22, 2016)

he's not a franchise player. He could be the Rodman to a Jordan or a Gasol to a Bryant but without help Horford and Atlanta aren't going anywhere soon. I would pay him 13-16 a year.
ATM he's a good player, not a great.


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## hobojoe (Jun 20, 2003)

5 points in a critical playoff game though?


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