It’s been a scary year for the class of 2007 — only two players have gotten extensions after their rookie deals.
No for Greg Oden. No for Jeff Green. No for Rodney Stuckey. No for Al Thornton. No for Thaddeus Young. No for Yi Jianlian.
Maybe for Al Horford.
The Hawks and Horford are still talking, according to Marc Stein at ESPN. Which puts him in a better spot than just about every teammate. The deadline is Monday.
Horford was an All-Star last year who anchors the middle for the Hawks, and is averaging 14.3 points and 9.7 rebounds per game so far for the 3-0 Hawks.
Put simply, the Hawks backed up the Brinks truck for Joe Johnson this summer — a six-year max deal — but Horford is more important to this team long-term. Horford is in his third season, when Johnson’s play and contract is an anchor on this franchise in five years, Horford will be their star and hope for rebuilding.
The deal being discussed is in the five-year, $65 million range, Stein reports. That is a little more than the extension the Bulls gave Joakim Noah this summer, and that seems fair. It should get done, the only question is about the Hawks ownership willingness to pay that much.
The only other member of the class of 2007 to get a contract extension was Kevin Durant. Oklahoma City gave him a five-year max deal but they would have thrown in the Brinks truck if they could have.