Jimmy Butler and the Miami Heat have moved on from a disappointing final chapter in an otherwise magical story. After two trips to the NBA Finals and three journeys to the Eastern Conference Finals, Butler’s fruitful tenure came to an agonizing end with a public fallout and a mid-season trade.

As the Heat search for last-minute moves to legitimize their postseason dreams for the 2025-26 season, an opportunity to get the last laugh on Butler has unexpectedly arisen.

Butler and the Golden State Warriors are gearing up for a 2025-26 season with a simple standard in mind: Championship or bust. The franchise is building around three stars who are least 35 years of age in Butler, Stephen Curry, and Green, and are thus seemingly aware of how quickly the clock is ticking.

Unfortunately, the Warriors’ dreams of improving the roster have been placed on hold by the ongoing Jonathan Kuminga saga.

Kuminga and the Warriors can’t seem to come to terms on a new contract, due in no small part to the 22-year-old preferring to move on. Miami could be an ideal team to kick the tires on acquiring Kuminga, but there’s a more affordable option to consider.

With Kuminga’s contract situation keeping the Warriors in a holding pattern, the time has never been better for the Heat to swoop in and steal Al Horford from them.

Heat should make a run at Al Horford in free agency

Horford has been linked to Golden State throughout the 2025 offseason. The general expectation is that, once the Kuminga situation has been resolved, the Warriors will use the Taxpayer Mid-Level Exception to sign Horford for at least the 2025-26 season.

Unfortunately, Horford is still a free agent in August due to the uncertainty surrounding Kuminga—thus granting Miami a golden opportunity to bolster its own rotation.

Horford, 39, is coming off of his 18th NBA season. He played 60 regular-season games, averaging 27.7 minutes per contest, before increasing his playing time to 31.6 minutes in the playoffs. It was a testament to his uncanny ability to raise his game when the pressure has mounted.

For the Heat, signing Horford would represent a golden opportunity to both improve the depth at center and provide two of their most important players with the perfect mentor.

Miami projects to start Bam Adebayo at power forward and Kel’el Ware at center in 2025-26. They form quite the promising duo, as Adebayo is a three-time All-Star and five-time All-Defense honoree, while Ware was a 2024-25 All-Rookie Second Team selectee.

Horford offers a unique perspective as a former NBA champion, however, who has epitomized the versatile two-way nature of great modern bigs for the better part of 18 seasons.

Al Horford could help Bam Adebayo, Kel’el Ware make the leap

With Horford providing leadership in the locker room, mentorship to the franchise bigs, and clutch contributions on both ends of the floor, Miami would take an instant step forward. Even at 39 years of age, his value on the court is almost impossible to dispute.

In 2024-25, Horford shot 36.3 percent from beyond the arc, upped that number to 40.0 percent during the playoffs, and continued to be the consummate team defender.

Boston finished the 2024-25 regular season outscoring opponents by 11.5 points per 100 possessions when Horford was on the court. That was the highest mark produced by any Celtics player who played at least 1,500 minutes.

Beyond the numbers, Horford always seemed to be exactly where the Celtics needed him—a truth that adequately summarizes the story of his career.

Horford may not be playing at the level that made him a five-time All-Star, but he’s uniquely equipped to teach teammates about the value of adaptability. He’s done everything from playing out of position to increasing his scoring output to stepping up as a leading facilitator during a career that may earn him a Hall of Fame induction one day.

If anyone can help Adebayo and Ware put the pieces together and anchor a championship-caliber interior, it’s Horford.