Getty

Al Horford, formerly of the Boston Celtics.

The Golden State Warriors now have serious reason to sweat the possibility they may lose former Boston Celtics center Al Horford to a competing franchise in free agency.

Marc J. Spears of Andscape appeared on the Monday, July 14 edition of “NBA Today” on ESPN and named three other teams that pose a threat to the Warriors’ acquisition of Horford.

Golden State, obviously, expected him to sign last week. He didn’t.

The [Los Angeles] Lakers, Milwaukee [Bucks] and Atlanta [Hawks], I believe, are also interested in a nearly 40-year-old guy who also has retirement on the table.

He’s still considering retiring. He’s not in any hurry. He’s got a sixth kid coming on the way. He lives in Atlanta and Boston in the offseason. But I’m hearing that whether it’s Golden State, and to a lesser extent the Lakers, being away from the family that far isn’t going to be in that decision.

Golden State made Horford its primary target heading into the summer, while the team continues to wait out the situation with restricted free agent Jonathan Kuminga. If Horford lands elsewhere or decides to hang em’ up after 18 years in the NBA, the Warriors will need to find another option to procure the center they so desperately need.

Free agency may no longer be the best bet if Horford removes himself from the board, or some competing team does. In that case, the Dubs may need to turn to the trade market.

One possibility there is Chicago Bulls center Nikola Vucevic.

Warriors, Bulls Trade Flipping Jonathan Kuminga for Nikola Vucevic May Have Legs

Getty Nikola Vucevic of the Chicago Bulls.

Nekias Duncan of “The Dunker Spot” podcast on the Yahoo Sports network appeared on the Monday, July 14 edition of “The Zach Lowe Show” podcast, which is part of The Ringer network.

The two discussed the connection between Horford’s persisting free agency, Kuminga’s restricted free agency and a potential Warriors trade with the Bulls swapping Kuminga for Vucevic.

“I’ve just been waiting on Kuminga to Chicago,” Duncan said. “I’ve been waiting on [Vucevic] to Golden State for, it feels like, months.”

Lowe countered immediately, saying that he doesn’t see such a deal developing between the Warriors and Bulls this summer.

“I don’t think [Vucevic] to Golden State is a thing,” Lowe responded. “I don’t think it is a thing. I’m not sure it ever really was a thing — on this current contract, anyway.”

Nikola Vucevic Better, More Expensive Player Than Al Horford at This Point in Respective Careers

GettyNikola Vucevic of the Chicago Bulls.

Vucevic is entering the final season of a three-year, $60 million contract that pays him $21.5 million in 2025-26.

The two-time All-Star will play next season, the 15th of his NBA career, at 35 years old. That means the Warriors would get a player four years Horford’s junior if they traded for Vucevic instead. Furthermore, if that move was a sign-and-trade involving Kuminga, the team would solve its center problem and its Kuminga issue in one deal.

Vucevic, a two-time All-Star, averaged 18.5 points, 10.1 rebounds and 3.5 assists last season — all well above the output from Horford (9.0 points, 6.2 rebounds and 2.1 assists).

Horford will cost less and is a better defender than Vucevic, but Vucevic is the better shooter and floor-spacer, connecting on 40.2% of his 4.4 nightly attempts from behind the 3-point line last year.

Golden State appears to have a two-year window of championship contention remaining, as that is the timeline for the contracts of Stephen Curry, Jimmy Butler III and Draymond Green. Vucevic isn’t the perfect fit and he is pricey, especially if the team wants to add more, but it’s all-in time in the Bay Area.

As such, if Horford slips between the Warriors’ proverbial fingers, the time may be right for the Dubs to take a one-year swing on a player like Vucevic — particularly considering they could clear his salary off the deck following the 2025-26 campaign.

Max Dible covers the NFL, NBA and MLB for Heavy.com, with a focus on the Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings, Chicago Bears and Cleveland Browns. He covered local and statewide news as a reporter for West Hawaii Today and served as news director for BigIslandNow.com and Pacific Media Group’s family of Big Island radio stations before joining Heavy. More about Max Dible