{"id":92266,"date":"2025-08-22T08:36:54","date_gmt":"2025-08-22T08:36:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=92266"},"modified":"2025-08-22T08:37:49","modified_gmt":"2025-08-22T08:37:49","slug":"warriors-offering-veteran-center-bigger-than-expected-deal-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=92266","title":{"rendered":"\ud83d\udea8BREAKING NEWS: The Warriors\u2019 stance on Jonathan Kuminga could be a nightmare for Russell Westbrook! \ud83d\ude31\ud83c\udfc0 Is this the end of his chances in Golden State\u2026 or just the beginning of a bigger twist?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"post-featured-container-id\">\n<div id=\"post-featured\">\n<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/GettyImages-1403385757-e1755813486628.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 820px) 95vw, 780px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/GettyImages-1403385757-e1755813486628.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780 780w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/GettyImages-1403385757-e1755813486628.jpg?quality=15&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1100 1100w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/GettyImages-1403385757-e1755813486628.jpg?quality=35&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1350 1350w\" alt=\"Warriors Offering Veteran Center Bigger-Than-Expected Deal: Report\" width=\"780\" height=\"440\" \/><\/figure>\n<div>\n<p>Getty<\/p>\n<p>Kevon Looney of the Golden State Warriors battles with Al Horford and Jaylen Brown of the Boston Celtics for a rebound in Game Six of the 2022 NBA Finals.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Veteran center Al Horford is expected to join the\u00a0Golden State Warriors once the situation surrounding restricted free agent Jonathan Kuminga is resolved, per multiple reports.<\/p>\n<p>Horford, 39, is among several veteran free agents\u2014including De\u2019Anthony Melton, Gary Payton II and Seth Curry\u2014slated to sign with Golden State this offseason. But according to NBA insider Jake Fischer, Horford is likely to receive more than the veteran minimum.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAl Horford\u2019s situation is a bit different because, depending on where the Warriors land in a cap tax situation, I believe he could make upwards of the full taxpayer mid-level ($5.7 million) exception,\u201d Fischer said on Bleacher Report\u2019s Insider\u2019s Notebook on Aug. 20. \u201cThere\u2019s also discussion of a potential two-year deal with a player option, which would be beneficial for Horford, who was considering retirement following Boston Celtics\u2018 championship run in 2024.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Warriors expect Horford to play a key role in the rotation, especially with longtime veteran Kevon Looney departing for the New Orleans Pelicans and younger frontcourt players Trayce Jackson-Davis and Quinten Post rounding out the roster.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Warriors\u2019 Starting Center<\/h2>\n<p>ESPN\u2019s Anthony Slater called Horford the \u201cpresumed starting center\u201d next season.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHorford would slide in as the presumed starting center, lessening the regular-season load on Draymond Green,\u201d Slater wrote. \u201cHis ability to pass, defend and shoot from the center spot fits well into the Warriors\u2019 system.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Last season, Horford averaged 9.0 points, 6.2 rebounds and 2.1 assists while making nearly two 3-pointers per game on 36.3% shooting from beyond the arc. During Boston\u2019s championship run the previous year, he averaged 8.6 points with a 41.9% mark from three-point range.<\/p>\n<p>With Jimmy Butler\u00a0and\u00a0Stephen Curry on the floor, Horford is expected to see more open looks than in Boston.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThose around the league continue to ticket Horford to the Warriors when free agency dust settles,\u201d Slater said. \u201cThe Kuminga situation continues to hold up business for them, keeping Horford in a holding pattern.\u201d<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Old But Gold?<\/h2>\n<p>Adding Horford would make Golden State\u2019s starting lineup one of the oldest in the NBA next season, with Horford, Green, Butler and Curry all in their mid-to-late 30s\u2014a contrast to the league\u2019s trend toward younger rosters. The defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder was the second-youngest team to win a title since the 1976-77 Portland Trail Blazers.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHorford hasn\u2019t been playing both sides of back-to-backs,\u201d Slater wrote. \u201cThe Warriors can\u2019t rely on him to be an every-night 25-minute option. But the plan is to have him in the lineup when it matters and open up space for five-man combinations, which would especially benefit a downhill driver like Kuminga.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Golden State faces 15 back-to-back games in 2025-26, tied for second-most in the league alongside Toronto, Portland, New Orleans, Miami and Utah. Horford\u2019s presence will provide experience and stability in the frontcourt while managing the team\u2019s rotation and veteran workload.<\/p>\n<p>Alder Almo is a sports journalist covering the NBA for Heavy.com. He has more than 20 years of experience in local and international media, including broadcast, print and digital. He previously covered the Knicks for Empire Sports Media and the NBA for Off the Glass. Alder is from the Philippines and is now based in Jersey City, New Jersey. More about Alder Almo<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Get insights on Al Horford&#8217;s potential deal with the Golden State Warriors and the changes in the team&#8217;s lineup.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":92271,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-92266","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>\ud83d\udea8BREAKING NEWS: The Warriors\u2019 stance on Jonathan Kuminga could be a nightmare for Russell Westbrook! \ud83d\ude31\ud83c\udfc0 Is this the end of his chances in Golden State\u2026 or just the beginning of a bigger twist? - News 365<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=92266\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\ud83d\udea8BREAKING NEWS: The Warriors\u2019 stance on Jonathan Kuminga could be a nightmare for Russell Westbrook! \ud83d\ude31\ud83c\udfc0 Is this the end of his chances in Golden State\u2026 or just the beginning of a bigger twist? 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