Horford 'strongly' considered Thunder in free agency

The Oklahoma City Thunder reportedly tried to clear up cap space over the summer in order to land All-Star center Al Horford, one of the more highly touted prizes available on the free-agent market, as the idea of adding him alongside Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook was too enticing not to pursue.

Though that scenario fizzled once Durant announced that he was heading to the Bay Area, Horford affirmed that signing with the Thunder and not the Boston Celtics was still very much on the table at the time.

"I didn't say this to anybody, but I was strongly considering (OKC) and just the possibilities of playing under coach (Billy Donovan) again," Horford said prior to Sunday's game at Chesapeake Energy Arena, according to ESPN's Chris Forsberg. "Those were realistic things, but at the end of the day I made my decision to be here with Boston."

Horford spent three years working with Donovan at the University of Florida from 2004-07, winning two national championships as a Gator in 2006 and 2007.

"He's got a really, really unique ability. Just my time with him for three years, he's exceptionally bright," Donovan said of his former pupil. "He's got an exceptionally high basketball IQ. He has an unbelievable awareness inside the locker room of how to generate and create chemistry and bring guys together. He's an incredible competitor, and he understands the things that impact winning, and he makes a difference in those areas that impact winning.

"So he's a guy that I've got a tremendous amount of love and affection for just in my time being with him because of how he approaches the game and how he impacts a team, and how he impacts people around him. I believe great players make people around them better. And that's what he does."

Horford dropped 19 points on 8-of-17 shooting, along with six assists and four rebounds in 33 minutes, as Boston fell 99-96 to the Thunder on Sunday.