SAN FRANCISCO – The Warriors have finally made their first free agent signing of the offseason.
Despite still being embroiled in contract negotiations with restricted free agent Jonathan Kuminga, Golden State went ahead with signing veteran center Al Horford on Sunday morning to a multi-year deal, according to Sham Charania. ESPN reported the move that the team has been linked to for months.
Horford, 39, posted a farewell message to Boston on his X profile. he spent seven seasons with the Celtics.
“From the moment we arrived, you have welcomed my family and I with open arms,” Horford wrote. “This chapter in my career will hold a special place in my heart.”
Horford has been one of the league’s most consistently excellent stretch bigs since entering the league in 2007. The prolific jump shooter has shot 37.8% from the 3-point line on a healthy 3.9 attempts per game.
Horford averaged 9.0 points per game and 6.2 rebounds per game for the Celtics in 2024-25 while also showing that he still had the mobility to guard multiple positions in 27.7 minutes a night.
He will be the oldest of a veteran-heavy rotation of former All-Stars as he joins Steph Curry (37), Draymond Green (35) and Jimmy Butler (35) on the win-now Warriors.
Horford is 6-foot-9, 240 pounds and fits the mold of a center that the team has needed for years. General manager Mike Dunleavy and coach Steve Kerr both mentioned the need to find a center this offseason in order to move Green back to the power forward spot.
That need became more pronounced when longtime Warriors center Kevon Looney agreed to a two-year deal with the Pelicans on Monday, leaving Golden State with a roster hole.
Horford joins a center rotation that includes second-year stretch big Quinten Post, who re-signed with the team before free agency began, and third-year reserve Trayce Jackson-Davis, who has shown flashes but was largely out of Steve Kerr’s rotation for the second half of last season.
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The five-time All-Star started his career in Atlanta for the Hawks, who drafted him No. 3 overall in 2007 after back-to-back NCAA championships at Florida. He remained there until 2016, when the Celtics signed him in free agency as they built a contending team. He left Boston in 2019 to partner with Joel Embiid in Philadelphia, an experiment that was short-lived as the Sixers traded him to Oklahoma City the next year.
He returned to Boston in 2021 after the Thunder bought him out, and started for the 2022 team that faced the Warriors in the NBA Finals, then filled a reserve role on the 2024 championship Celtics.
Horford became available when Boston decided to retool after Jason Tatum tore his Achilles tendon in the playoffs, keeping him out through next season. The Warriors were reportedly in contention with the Lakers to sign him before Los Angeles agreed to a deal with former Portland big man DeAndre Ayton.