Despite signing Dwight Howard on the opening day of free agency, the Atlanta Hawks might still retain their franchise player.
The Hawks made a "very significant" offer to free-agent center Al Horford on Friday, Chris Vivlamore of AJC.com reports.
However, it's unknown if the offer still stands after the team gave $70 million to Howard, and another $70 million to Kent Bazemore, Vivlamore adds.
Horford is seeking a maximum contract valued at $26 million to start. Reports suggest that the Hawks were hesitant to offer a five-year deal - a potential deal-breaker for their star center. But the ball is still in Atlanta's court, as they're the only team that could offer Horford five years. All other suitors would be restricted to a four-year pact.
In order to accommodate both Howard and Horford, the Hawks would need to open up at least $10 million in cap room by trading away existing salary.
Related: Hawks have plans to clear cap space if Horford opts to return
If the Hawks can find takers for injury-prone center Tiago Splitter and veteran swingman Thabo Sefolosha, they could carve out the requisite cap room without losing a significant piece. But such a move would leave the Hawks with little financial flexibility to fill out their bench.
The other possibility would be to move Paul Millsap. As it were, having all three of Horford, Howard, and Millsap in the same frontcourt could make for an expensive and awkward fit.
The 30-year-old Horford has spent the entirety of his nine-year career in Atlanta after being drafted third overall. Last season, he was named to his fourth All-Star Game while averaging 15.2 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks across 82 appearances.
Horford reportedly met with the Boston Celtics, Houston Rockets, Washington Wizards, and a fourth mystery team on Friday. The Oklahoma City Thunder are also in the hunt.
