NBA rumors: New details on Al Horford’s contract with 76ers revealed

Al Horford has agreed to a four-year contract worth $109 million with the Philadelphia 76ers in NBA free agency, and new financial details of this pact with the Sixers were revealed Tuesday.

ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported Sunday night that Horford's deal included $97 million guaranteed. On Tuesday, The Athletic's Derek Bodner reported more information on how Horford's contract is structured, including a partially guaranteed fourth year.

The triggers for the non-guaranteed portion of the fourth year in Horford's contract do contain team benchmarks, such as winning a championship.
— Derek Bodner (@DerekBodnerNBA) July 2, 2019

In all, I'm told the Sixers could have a little over $2 million in cap space to work with, not the commonly reported $7.7 million.
— Derek Bodner (@DerekBodnerNBA) July 2, 2019

One interesting note here is the 76ers having around $2 million in salary cap space, not $7.7 million. That's a big difference, especially for a championship contender that still needs to strengthen its bench with shooting and versatility.

Depth was a problem for the 76ers in each of their last two playoff runs, both of which ended in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Philly's starting five has been awesome, but the bench has been a weak point that other teams have exposed.

The 76ers will owe a ton of money to Horford, Tobias Harris, Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons beginning in the 2020-21 season when Simmons' rookie extension is expected to kick in. Philadelphia won't have a ton of cap flexibility moving forward, so it really needs Horford to live up to his contract by providing the 3-point shooting, leadership and defense he showed in Boston during the last three seasons.