If you want to evaluate the greatest NBA disasters of the last decade, the Philadelphia 76ers’ signing of Al Horford has to be near the top. In the summer of 2019, the 76ers signed Horford to a lucrative four-year contract, following three successful seasons as a core player for the Boston Celtics. To clear that space, they said farewell to Jimmy Butler, who joined the Miami Heat and guided them to two NBA Finals.
The 76ers, on the other hand, struggled to fit Horford and Joel Embiid together all season. The thought process was that signing Horford away would damage the Celtics, their Atlantic Division rivals, while transforming one of the league’s top Embiid defenders into an asset. Instead, the two battled throughout the season; the Sixers were just the sixth seed, and Horford was benched midway through.
Philadelphia chose to move on from their free agency error by attaching assets to Horford’s contract and shipping him to a ready and willing trade partner: the Oklahoma City Thunder. This contained a second-round pick (used on Theo Maledon), draft rights for Vasilije MIcic, and a future first-round pick. In exchange, the 76ers obtained a seasoned wing in Danny Green, took a chance on Terance Ferguson, and received major financial savings. Green was an important role player for Philadelphia, and the money savings enabled them to pivot several times before assembling the roster that surrounds Embiid today. However, the whole misery of that blunder, from signing to trading to moving on, is finally coming to light.
The Thunder may benefit from the 76ers’ dysfunction
First and foremost, the Oklahoma City Thunder have already made the Al Horford deal a success. Horford’s contract looked like a massive albatross when they finalized the agreement. Horford was 34 years old and coming off what may have been his worst season; the dynamic big man’s career appeared to be done. Kevin Pelton of ESPN had even written at the time: “If Sam Presti manages to rehabilitate Al Horford’s value and trade him for another first-round pick, along the lines of what we saw from Chris Paul’s time in Oklahoma City, we should just permanently award him Executive of the Year.”
Presti is still waiting for his lifetime achievement award, but after the season, he traded Horford to the Celtics for Kemba Walker and a first-round selection. Horford thrived back with the Celtics, playing significant roles on both their 2022 Finals and 2024 championship teams. The blessings continue to flow, as the Thunder are poised to benefit once more from this trade. In the original Horford trade, the Thunder received the 76ers’ 2025 first-round selection, which was Top-6 protected. As recently as this offseason, that appeared to be a non-issue, with Philadelphia projected to compete at the top of the conference.
Instead, injuries and ineffectiveness have destroyed the squad, which is now 15-22, the eighth-worst record in the NBA. Even though the Thunder are at the top of the league and competing for a title, they are currently on track to draft in the lottery once more. If the season ended today with no Draft Lottery, the Thunder would pick ninth in the draft. This puts them in contention for exceptional draft picks like VJ Edgecombe, Kon Knueppel, and Egor Demin. Teams in first place are not supposed to keep adding lottery picks to their rosters.
The 76ers are hoping to pull things together, fight their way back into the Play-In Tournament, and then make the playoffs. Following a disastrous 5-15 start, they are 10-7 in their last 17 games. They will most likely end higher than seventh in the lottery standings. However, as the two squads prepare to meet battle on Tuesday night, there is a strong connection between them. If Philadelphia can get healthy and consistent enough to make the playoffs, they will give the Thunder the 16th or 18th pick, which is a better pick than they expected three months ago.
If they are unable to entirely repair the ship, this might be the 12th, 10th, or even 8th pick. A crisis is quickly worsened. The Thunder have made a number of incredible transactions in their history, but this one is absolutely remarkable. It’s the deal that keeps giving.
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