Lakers, Warriors Facing New Competition for Al Horford in NBA Free Agency
July 6, 2025
2,501
Al Horford has become a popular name following the first wave of NBA free agency. He’s one of the best players available and both the Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Lakers have been the most connected teams to him.
Following the Lakers’ moves to sign Deandre Ayton and Jaxson Hayes, the Warriors have been the perceived front-runner recently.
While those two teams had been viewed as the top competition to sign Horford, another contender has entered the mix as a potential landing spot.
Al Horford #42 of the Boston Celtics celebrates a win against the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game Five of the Eastern Conference Second Round Playoffs at TD Garden on May 15, 2024 in Boston, Massachusetts. Al Horford #42 of the Boston Celtics celebrates a win against the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game Five of the Eastern Conference Second Round Playoffs at TD Garden on May 15, 2024 in Boston, Massachusetts. Photo by Adam Glanzman/Getty Images
So far this offseason, the Denver Nuggets have been very busy. They have traded Michael Porter Jr. in a deal for Cam Johnson, signed Bruce Brown, and pulled off a deal to acquire veteran center Jonas Valanciunas from the Sacramento Kings.
Read more: Lakers’ LeBron James Trade Rumors Receive Huge Update
Valanciunas was expected to be a big backup center upgrade for the Nuggets, but he seems to want to take his talents to Europe.
Should he choose to find his way out of Denver to head overseas, the Nuggets would still need a backup center. Horford has now been connected as a possible target for them.
According to a report from Evan Sidery of Forbes, Denver is widely expected to pursue Horford.
“With the Nuggets now once again without a backup center, they are widely expected to pivot to pursuing Al Horford in free agency,” Sidery wrote. “The Warriors and Lakers are the only teams currently in the Horford sweepstakes, but Denver would instantly offer him an important rotation role.”
Not only could the Nuggets offer him a key role, they could likely offer him a very lucrative deal. If Valanciunas leaves, Denver would have its full MLE to work with.
Horford would be an excellent addition for the Nuggets. He would bring defense, the ability to score and shoot from the perimeter, and rebounding. Adding that kind of presence behind Nikola Jokic would be very valuable.
During the 2024-25 NBA season with the Boston Celtics, Horford played in 60 games and made 42 starts. He averaged nine points, 6.2 rebounds, 2.1 assists, and 0.9 blocks per game, while shooting 42.3 percent overall and 36.3 percent from the three-point arc.
Expect to hear more news on Horford in the near future. Keep an eye on Denver as a team that could make a strong push to land the 39-year-old center.
For more on the Denver Nuggets, Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Lakers, and general NBA news, head on over to Newsweek Sports.
Um die besten Erfahrungen zu bieten, verwenden wir Technologien wie Cookies, um Geräteinformationen zu speichern und/oder darauf zuzugreifen. Wenn Sie diesen Technologien zustimmen, können wir Daten wie das Surfverhalten oder eindeutige IDs auf dieser Website verarbeiten. Die Nichteinwilligung oder der Widerruf der Einwilligung kann bestimmte Merkmale und Funktionen beeinträchtigen.
Functional
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
