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This offseason, the Boston Celtics packed up Jaylen Brown, a franchise legend, and sent him off to one of their historic rivals, the Philadelphia 76ers. In return, the Celtics are bringing in a likely future Hall of Famer in Paul George, to go along with a slew of draft picks. We don’t need to relitigate whether this was a good or bad return for Jaylen Brown; Paul George is a Celtic. The star forward arriving in Boston in the twilight of his career reminds me of another time a future Hall of Famer arrived in Boston, except in that instance it was his second arrival, Al Horford in 2021.
Brad Stevens’ first order of business as president of basketball operations in 2021 was bringing back Al Horford. A move that foreshadowed Stevens’ brilliance as a front-office executive. Horford’s second act with Boston began in his age-35 season; Paul George will embark on his Celtics tenure in his age-36 season. I think there’s a chance that PG becomes this era’s version of Al Horford, a wing version whose blend of elite shooting and defense complements this current Celtics roster perfectly. There are two obvious barriers to Paul George reaching the lofty heights of Al Horford’s 2021-2025 Celtics stint; that dude was a playoff cheat code. Big Al could switch one through five, protect the rim, stretch the floor and was an elite connector. Those are big shoes to fill for the late-career versatile wing. The first barrier is the obvious health concerns; over the last five seasons, George has played an average of 48 regular-season games. However, it’s notable that PG has played in 125 of 131 possible career playoff games. Five were missed due to injury in 2023, and one was missed in 2022 due to COVID safety protocols. Next, when comparing Horford’s role with the Celtics and George’s potential role, there are similarities, but the Celtics will rely on George far less than they did Horford. The Celtics unfairly burdened Horford with the fate of the Celtics’ frontcourt. Rob Williams took the group to a new level, but his knees gave out; Porzingis was only able to give the team two and a half healthy playoff games, Luke Kornet was a…
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Publish date : 2026-09-15 10:00:00
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