Celtics Unhappy With Al Horford's Exit, Tampering Claims Made: Report

The Boston Celtics lost two key players this offseason with Kyrie Irving and Al Horford leaving for new teams in free agency. The former joined the Brooklyn Nets on a four-year deal while the latter joined the Philadelphia 76ers on a three-year deal worth $109 million.

The C’s brought in Kemba Walker on a max free agency deal from the Charlotte Hornets while also adding Portland Trail Blazer center Enes Kanter. Celtics general manager Danny Ainge had revealed prior to offseason that the team was prepared for Irving to leave and recently confirmed that he had an inkling their star player was on his way to Boston before the end of the season.

However, according to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, the Boston franchise, while expecting Irving’s departure, were completely caught by surprise with Horford’s sudden exit. The Celtics were said to be keen to negotiate a deal and were not aware of the kind of offers that were on the table before the center confirmed his desire to move on and not re-sign with the NBA’s most successful franchise.

“The Celtics were, from what I am told, one of the teams that kind of stomped their feet with what they thought was tampering,” Windhorst said during his appearance on “The Hoop Collective”. “Not with Kyrie, with Horford. What happened with Horford, from what I am told, really upset the Celtics. They were thinking they were going to be able to negotiate with him, talk to him about a new contract and all of a sudden it was like, he already knew what his market was and what was out there.”

Windhorst’s host on the “Hoop Collective” Jack MacMullan says the Celtics should not complain about tampering as it is commonplace in the NBA for every team to indulge in it in small doses. He points to Walker’s example by questioning how it suddenly became clear that he wanted to join the Celtics.

Multiple reports suggested that the Celtics were not willing to meet Horford’s demands of a $100 million-plus contract, which the 76ers agreed to, by offering him a guaranteed three-year deal for $97 million and a further $12 million tied to championships.