Horford: Leaving Atlanta was difficult, Celtics were best fit

All-Star Al Horford was one of the more highly sought-after talents on the free-agent market, with a number of teams making an effort to lure him to their respective rosters.

Ultimately, the 30-year-old veteran took his talents to Beantown to sign with the Boston Celtics on a max contract $113 million over four years. This came after a nine-year stint with the Atlanta Hawks that put Horford on the map as one of the elite big men in basketball.

"It was extremely difficult but at the end looking at the future of the team and having an opportunity to win in a different scenario for me," Horford told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Chris Vivlamore. "It wasn’t an easy decision for me but I think at the end Boston just felt it was the best fit for me when looking at everything from their players top to bottom, the amount of players they had and the potential there."

It's not as though the Hawks were dwelling near the bottom of the Eastern Conference with Horford on board. The team won a franchise-best 60 games in 2014-15 and advanced all the way to the Conference Finals. They then followed that up with a 48-34 record last season, although they experienced the same fate by getting swept in the playoffs by the Cleveland Cavaliers.

"In Atlanta for many years we won and were able to be real successful," Horford said. "I think that in Atlanta I was hoping that things would have worked out. Once I saw that things weren’t going to work out, I saw what was going to be the best situation for me to try to win an NBA championship. Like I said, I would have liked for everything to have worked out in Atlanta but it just didn’t happen that way. This is a big opportunity in front of me in Boston."

It was originally reported that part of the reason Horford took his talents elsewhere is that he didn't want to pair up with newly signed center Dwight Howard in Atlanta's frontcourt. Horford shot that notion down though, stating that he and the organization didn't see eye-to-eye financially.

The Hawks reportedly offered the Florida product a five-year, $136-million contract, which would have given Horford an extra year and more guaranteed money, albeit but a slightly lower annual figure.

"After the season, my agent and I sat down and looked at the possibilities of other teams if it didn’t work out in Atlanta," Horford said. "There were three or four teams that emerged in case things didn’t work out that I would look at. It started to be more realistic on July 1st. When I took the meetings with the other teams, I met with Boston and other teams as well, when I sat with them I just saw the roster and their vision."

"There was a lot of impact on me with Danny Ainge and coach (Brad) Stevens. It was a very positive meeting. Two of their owners were in the meeting and three or four of their players were there too. They seemed like a very close group and were focused on what their goal was and they got my attention. I wasn’t sure in what direction I was going to go. But I knew in order to leave Atlanta it was going to take a very special situation."