Contract Details Revealed for Al Horford Re-Signing with Warriors

Al Horford is returning to the Golden State Warriors.

The 40-year-old declined his $6 million player option to sign a new two-year, $14 million deal, per ESPN's Shams Charania and Anthony Slater.

Charania and Slater also reported that his contract is fully guaranteed with no player option.

Even in the twilight of his career, Horford is worth more than the contract he got. But the Warriors had his non-Bird rights, which means the best they could offer him was a small raise.

There was some speculation that Horford could retire, but instead he's back with the hope that the Warriors have Stephen Curry and Jimmy Butler healthy for the 2026-27 playoffs.

Warriors Make Good Move Despite Goal to Get Younger

The Warriors are operating as an over-the-cap team that has limited ways to improve this offseason.

They could trade future first-round picks with matching salary for a star, but over the years they have consistently chosen to hold their assets over such a big move.

In free agency, their only asset is the mid-level exception. Depending on how Draymond Green handles his $27.7 million player option and how Kristaps Porzingis' free agency goes, the Warriors may or may not have the full non-taxpayer mid-level exception ($15 million). If they don't have the NTMLE, they'll have the taxpayer mid-level of just $6.1 million.

The pro of re-signing their own free agents is they don't have to use any of their MLE money.

That's why I expect the Warriors to bring back Porzingis as well.

In any case, Horford played just 45 games last season, but he came on strong in the second half of the campaign. His big highlight was making four fourth-quarter threes in the Warriors' play-in game win over the Clippers.

He's a quality all-around player who can defend bigs, switch onto guards, post-up, knock down threes and make quick passing decisions.

Horford's Return Could Make Post's Future More Dicey

Quinten Post is a 26-year-old restricted free agent who doesn't project to have a big market. The Warriors might be able to bring him back on a minimum contract that has a average annual value of about $2.5 million.

They need center depth, especially with the age of Horford and illness/injury history of Porzingis. But they might be ready for a different third-string center after Post's 2025-26 season struggles.

My guess is the Warriors would have brought Post back for continuity reasons alone if they lost Horford.

Maybe now they will more aggressively seek a young-ish free-agent center who might be more productive in short spurts than the Netherlands native.

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