Can you imagine what Al Horford would do as a member of the Houston Rockets, under current head coach Mike D’Antoni?
You almost didn’t even have to try.
Leading into the Boston Celtics’ Monday night loss to the Houston Rockets, Horford admitted that he would have ended up in Texas if he didn’t sign with Beantown, per the Boston Globe‘s Adam Himmelsbach:
“I really considered coming here as well,” he said of Houston. “Them and Boston and Washington, but especially here and Boston, were probably the two teams I was really, really looking at. So, just a lot to consider. A really good team, but at the end of the day I just felt like I was better off being in Boston.”
There mere thought of this is terrifying.
Slotting Al Horford alongside Isaiah Thomas is dangerous enough. There is no telling what he would do, at full strength, alongside James Harden. The Rockets would be setting scoreboards on fire even more frequently than they are now.
To be honest, though, the Rockets may have lucked out. Horford is worth every penny of the max(ish) deal he signed with the Celtics. But the Rockets are a defensive sieve. Clint Capela is the better rim protector, and thus the better fit at the 5. D’Antoni could have stuck Horford at the 4, thanks to his three-point range, but he’s better suited at the 5. Capela would have made a fine backup, and there’s no doubt the Rockets would have made the frontcourt rotation works, but there’s no need to get caught up in a run of what-if scenarios.
