The Oklahoma City Thunder made what appeared to be a head-scratching announcement on Saturday night. With 28 games left in the season, they announced that they'd be shutting down Al Horford.
Horford, 34, has averaged 14.2 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 3.4 assists per game for the Thunder this year, so the Thunder's decision caught many by surprise.
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However, as Brian Scalabrine pointed out on NBC Sports Boston's Celtics Pregame Live, there is a reason that the Thunder are choosing to do this.
"I don't have a problem with it at all, to be honest with you," Scalabrine said of the Thunder's decision to shut Horford down. "Al is a great veteran, he's a great player for their team, but I think they want to see what they have."
Scalabrine went on to explain that if the Thunder want to get a look at their young players, that means that they'll already be limiting his minutes.
"They don't want Al Horford to be one of those guys that's just coming in and playing 10 minutes a night, so they'll sit him," Scalabrine said.
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But in that case, why not just buy him out? Well, as Scal pointed out, the Thunder must think that he still has value on the trade market.
Scalabrine has a point. Horford has two years and $53 million left on his contract after this season. Given that he can still play, some team may be willing to offload draft assets to get him. And if those teams have some expiring contracts they can give the Thunder to match salary, then holding onto Horford should be worth it for Thunder GM Sam Presti.
Besides, Presti is a known asset hoarder, so he probably won't want to just let Horford walk regardless. That rings especially true since he's a key veteran leader for the young Thunder team.
Maybe if Horford asked for a buyout, Presti would grant the wish, but that doesn't seem like something Horford wants to do at this point in time.
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So, Celtics fans can keep dreaming. The team may eventually land someone on the buyout market, but with LaMarcus Aldridge heading to the Brooklyn Nets and the Los Angeles Lakers being the rumored frontrunner for Andre Drummond, the market is becoming a bit thinner.