The Philadelphia 76ers gave Al Horford a $109 million deal last summer, but they may finally be cutting their losses and moving him to the bench for good.
Mike O’Connor of The Athletic reported on Saturday that the Sixers are likely to start Shake Milton instead of Horford when the season resumes. The two had been starting together before play was suspended, but Ben Simmons’ expected return from injury will force Philadelphia to bench one of them.
Milton, a 23-year-old swingman, had been coming into his own lately and was averaging 19.4 points per game in the month of March. He also helps with spacing, as he is a career 41.3 percent shooter from deep.
Horford, meanwhile, has underperformed since arriving in Philly, though he had started 57 of his 60 games for the team this season. The Sixers had been experimenting with him and Joel Embiid in the frontcourt, a flawed pairing which was pulling Horford further away from the basket on offense and also forcing him to defend in space more often.
The five-time All-Star was brought in partly to help the Sixers match up better against one particular East rival. But with a large-enough sample size to work with and the possibility of a revised playoff format eliminating conferences altogether, it seems that the team has now come to their better senses.
