Rumor: Al Horford has $112M/4-year offer from other team

For the last three years, Celtics fans defended Al Horford’s relatively low counting stat numbers, saying that other teams just didn’t understand how much Average Al meant and tthat you couldn’t quantify his value. Well, someone reportedly put a number on it. A big number:

ESPN’s Tim McMahon, former Mavericks beat writer, also reported that it’s not Dallas offering Horford a bag.

Per Jackie MacMullan, Danny Ainge did offer Horford a “pretty healthy” deal after Horford opted out of his $30.1 million player option to test free agency. Here’s what she said on The Hoop Collective podcast this afternoon:

“I think the Celtics made him a good offer. I can’t tell you what it was, but I do think they made him a four-year offer that was a pretty healthy one,” she said on the Hoop Collective podcast. “Think about that. I think Al’s 37 at the end of that contract, so it’s not like they said they’re going to lowball Al Horford. But what this tells me... there are teams out there that are very interested in Al Horford, and one of them, I believe, is the Dallas Mavericks. So, I think there’s going to be some big money there for Al Horford.”

Last night, managing partner Wyc Grousbeck and Ainge did not rule out Horford (or Kyrie Irving) returning to Boston. The Celtics will now have just over a week to get their ducks in a row before free agency opens on June 30th. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported last night that Boston is interested in Magic’s free agent center, Nikola Vucevic to replace Horford. The Celtics also traded Aron Baynes to Phoenix on Draft Night, leaving only Robert Williams as their only traditional center.