Atlanta Hawks: Al Horford Expects To Continue Playing Center

With Josh Smith leaving the Atlanta Hawks, Al Horford probably hoped to return to his more natural power forward position. However, with Zaza Pachulia also leaving the team and Paul Millsap arriving in Atlanta, Horford is prepared to stay at the five.

"“I was hoping to play more in the power forward position,” Horford said. “We couldn’t work things out with Zaza (Pachulia) and he had to leave. I understand that now I have to go play some center. I would like to play a little more power forward. I was talking to coach (Mike Budenholzer) and the way that the offense works, the 4 and the 5 are pretty much interchangeable. I feel like Paul and I will be able to complement each other.”(via Atlanta Journal-Constitution)"

While Horford can play both positions just fine on the offensive end, he also admitted that going up against bigger centers every game took a toll on his body.

As Horford points out, Millsap could potentially help his case, but only to an extent. Millsap is an undersized power forward, so plugging him in at center is obviously not going to work. Still, Paul is strong enough to alleviate some of the pressure that is put on Horford, as he is strong enough to bang with bigger guys in the post.