Celtics Free Agent Al Horford Officially Makes Decision on 2025-26 Season, What Does it Mean for Boston?

Boston Celtics free agent power forward/center Al Horford has officially made a decision on his hext contract.

His agent, Jason Glushon, informs Shams Charania of ESPN that Horford has agreed to "a multi-year deal" to join the Golden State Warriors. He is projected to serve as Golden State's new starting center.

Al Horford agrees to join Warriors on multi-year contract - via ESPN https://t.co/GiX2qDIxhL
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) September 28, 2025

Although it had been previously reported that Horford already had a verbal agreement in place with Golden State, Charania reports that he only actually made said agreement on Sunday.

With this news, Boston has now ditched all three of its rotation centers from the past two seasons, including its run to the 2024 championship. Starter Kristaps Porzingis was shipped off to the Atlanta Hawks as part of a three-time deal, while third-string center Luke Kornet inked a three-year, $41 million free agent deal with the San Antonio Spurs to back up All-Star center Victor Wembanyama.

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Horford, 39, was actually a more integral piece to the Celtics' title bid than the team's nominal starter at the position, Porzingis, who was limited by health issues during both of Boston's playoff runs over the past two years.

A former five-time All-Star, Horford started in 15 of 19 playoff games for Boston during the team's 2024 title run, averaging 9.2 points on .478/.368/.636 shooting splits, 7.0 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 0.8 steals and 0.8 blocks in 30.3 minutes per. Last season, he started in nine of 11 playoff bouts for Boston over Porzingis, averaging 8.0 points while slashing .472/.400/.857, 6.0 boards, 1.8 dishes, 1.3 rejections and 0.6 steals.

As Charania notes, Horford has connected on more than 100 triple tries at a 41 percent clip across each of the last three years. He remains an impressively impactful defender well past his prime, too, having permitted just a 46 percent field goal percent while defending isolations. GeniusIQ ranks that seventh-best in the league.

The Florida product will be a potent two-way force with the Warriors, who for years have been trotting out undersized or otherwise limited options at the five. Last season, fed up with Kevon Looney and Trayce Jackson-Davis (and with rookie Quinten Post only coming on late), head coach Steve Kerr frequently opted to play 35-year-old, 6-foot-6 forward Draymond Green as his starting center.

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Now, the team will have a true, floor-spacing big man at the five who can still bring it on the other end, a perfect fit in theory with 11-time All-Star sharpshooting point guard Stephen Curry.

Golden State's biggest issue heading into 2025-26 is the age of its top talent. Beyond the 39-year-old Horford and the 35-year-old Green, the Warriors will also be leaning heavily on the 37-year-old Curry and the 36-year-old Jimmy Butler. It's an absolutely ancient core group, but it does have the talent to go far in the West if everyone can hold up.

Only four players have made 900 treys and 1,300 rejections in the history of the league: four-time All-Star Portland Trail Blazers and Detroit Pistons (and, briefly, Boston Celtics and New York Knicks) power forward Rasheed Wallace, two-time All-Defensive center Brook Lopez, Clifford Robinson... and Al Horford.

What's Next for the Celtics at Center?

Boston now fully transitions into a new era at the center position. Former four-stringer Neemias Queta will duke it out with free agent signings Luka Garza and Chris Boucher (Boucher, who is Horford-sized at 6-foot-9 and can spread the floor a bit, also could realistically start at power forward), and perhaps even Xavier Tillman, for rotation minutes.

On paper, the Queta/Boucher/Garza trio (the 6-foot-8 Tillman is apparently seen as more of a four) represents a pretty massive dip from Porzingis, Horford and Kornet, during a "gap year" season where six-time All-Star Jayson Tatum will be recovering from an Achilles tendon tear for much of the season.

But Queta enjoyed an impressive summer run for his native Portugal, and could legitimately be ready for a big leap. Boucher, a former two-time champ, at least can emulate Horford's scoring skill set, although he's not the passer or defender Horford is, even heading into his 19th pro season. Garza was a part-time player on a contending Minnesota Timberwolves team last year, and seems unlikely to have a major impact.

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