The Atlanta Hawks were the surprise team in the NBA last season as they won 60 games and finished with the best record in the Eastern Conference. The Hawks eventually lost in the Eastern Conference Finals to the Cleveland Cavaliers, but they had a great year and one of the main reasons was Al Horford. Horford is entering the final year of his five year $60 million deal but reportedly won't talk with the Hawks about a new contract until after the 2015-16 season, according to Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Horford is saying that his motivation for holding off on contract talks is so that he can fully focus on getting better and being ready for next season. While that may be true, a bigger reason Horford wants to wait until after this season is because the salary cap will be going way up and he would be able to sign a mammoth contract.
"As far as the contract stuff, I'm going to wait until the season is over. I'm not going to let that linger and be a distraction. The focus is to be on the Hawks, on our team and getting better. Once the season ends, we'll be able to sit down and talk and figure out all of that," said Horford.
Horford has been in the league for eight years now, so he will have the ability to sign a contract that pays a first-year salary of more than $25 million. Horford is set to make $12 million this upcoming season and has set himself up nicely to get a huge payday on the market as one of the marquee free agents next offseason.
Horford has been one of the Hawks best players for a while now and is a three time All-Star including last season. The 29-year-old has career averages of 14.2 points and 9.2 rebounds per game while shooting 54 percent from the field in his career.
Horford will hit the free agent market at age 30, and unless he has an awful year or gets seriously injured will be very sought after. Odds are he gets a maximum contract from someone and because of that, it is a wise decision by him and his representatives to not talk about an extension now as he will garner a much bigger contract next offseason.
