Hoopsworld: Extending Horford is Job One

[lethalweapon3]

Nothing we haven't already parsed apart here.

http://www.hoopsworld.com/Story.asp?story_id=17441

Locking in All-Star center Al Horford to an extension is now the club's top priority.

Horford is entering his fourth season and is eligible for an extension of his rookie contract. The deadline for extending players drafted in 2007 is October 31st and according to reports, the team is ready to offer a "near max" deal. But anyone following the current Carmelo Anthony situation in Denver should fully understand that securing an early extension isn't a guarantee even with past team success.

Horford hasn't indicated that he's in a huge rush to get an extension signed, but has voiced some concern about playing out of position at center and his desire to play more of his natural position which is power forward.

HOOPSWORLD caught up with Horford during Hawks media day and he reiterated his stance on wanting to play more power forward, his desire to remain an All-Star and his excitement about new head coach Larry Drew's motion offense.

"I've been adjusting to it (playing center) since I got here, so obviously I would like to play a little more at the power forward position, which is my natural position. But I'm OK with still playing some at center," explained Horford to HOOPSWORLD.

The phrase that should worry Hawks fans is the "playing some at center" remark. This statement shouldn't be taken lightly because if the Hawks fail to get his signature on an extension early, the club risks losing him on the open market next summer even though he'd be a restricted free agent and they'd be able to match any offer.

Let us clarify.

If the Hawks were to allow Horford to test the free agency waters next summer, a potential suitor, with an abundance of cap space, could swoop in and offer a heavily frontloaded contract. The frontloaded deal in essence would make the first year of the contract almost impossible for the Hawks to match given their current cap position for 2012. The threat of a frontloaded contract is what inspired the Memphis Grizzlies to re-sign forward Rudy Gay to his five-year $81.6 million deal at the beginning of free agency.

The Indiana Pacers are a team with the cap room to pull this off. The club has about $35 million in salary commitments in 2012 and is extremely thin at power forward with Tyler Hansbrough and Josh McRoberts expected to carry the load. Plus the Pacers feature an emerging center in Roy Hibbert which would make Horford's transition to his natural power forward slot seamless.

"You always shoot for that (All-Star). If you experience it once, you want to be in that position again. So you best believe that I'm going to be working to get back into that position from an individual standpoint while trying to help our team be the best that we can be," stated Horford.

It's ironic that Horford has become an All-Star and arguably a top-five center in the league by playing out of position. Success creates the desire to become even more successful and those witnessing Horford's progression last season saw the change in his play after the All-Star nod.

Horford became more assertive on the offensive end and it became clear that playing with the game's best left a strong impression on the young center.

"Some of it has to do with that (playing with the best). The other part is toward the second half of last season, (former) Coach Woodson was telling me to play with more confidence. He wanted me to get the ball a little more and those were some of the things that sparked me being aggressive on offense," added Horford.

New head coach Larry Drew has implemented a motion offense designed to make the Hawks less predictable than year's past, which the players have responded to positively.

"I think it (new offense) will contain more movement and that's something that we needed. So we're excited and really looking forward to that," stated Horford.

~lw3