2016 NBA free agency: 5 worst fits for Al Horford

There is a certain stigma that is undeniable in the James Dolan era of the New York Knicks. New York doesn’t want to rebuild ever and is more than willing to overspend on a declining player to pack Madison Square Garden strictly on a marquee name than to win basketball games.

Not that Horford wouldn’t be hugely impactful as the starting center for the Knicks in the next four years should he sign with New York for the max, but New York’s decadent managerial style with regard to their basketball team might end up costing Horford big in the last few years of his prime.

Horford has made the Eastern Conference Playoffs all nine seasons in Atlanta. The Hawks have the league’s second longest active playoff streak in the NBA behind only the perennial Western Conference power San Antonio Spurs. When was the last time the Knicks were annually a 45-50 win team, the type of program Horford would be leaving behind in Atlanta?

The idea of being in a starting lineup with Derrick Rose, Carmelo Anthony, and Kristaps Porzingis could be appealing, as that quartet with Horford should be good enough to make the Eastern Conference Playoffs and maybe win a first-round series in 2017.

Leaving an offense in Atlanta that prominently features heavy ball movement to a starting five with two very ball-dominant players in Rose and Anthony will limit Horford’s offensive effectiveness. New York doesn’t seem interested in playing real defense and Horford would essentially play the same position as Porzingis, ultimately creating spacing issues.

Best case scenario, Horford would be on a team in New York capable of an average year he would have otherwise experienced in Atlanta. Worst case scenario, the Knicks’ dysfunctional behavior rears its ugly head again, Rose and Anthony don’t coalesce, and Horford is left to pick up the pieces of another underperforming Knicks team.

Next: 4. Detroit Pistons.