New Orleans Pelicans: 5 veteran free agents worth targeting

#1) Al Horford

This addition to the article isn’t so simple. Horford is still a great player, don’t judge him solely based off the boxscore—it doesn’t do his game justice. However, he’s 33-years-old and likely will warrant a significant contract… money, and term wise.

It’s not that you can’t, or shouldn’t be willing to overpay him, it’s strictly the term. Handing out a four-year deal to a man that will be 37 in the expiring season comes with plenty of cons. What if his game rapidly declines halfway through the deal? You’re then stuck with a contract that’s handicapping your team.

Players down the road need re-signing and if they require more lucrative deals, you could be forced to sit and watch them depart. So why am I saying the Pels should still pursue the man? Simple, he would thrive in on the Pelicans roster.

It won’t be easy convincing him to knock a year off the deal, or potentially to go for less money, but the Pelicans should stay involved in the Horford sweepstakes. He’s the perfect complementary big man to Zion.

He’s a great passer for a big, can knock down open perimeter looks and is incredibly active on the defensive end of the court. Horford doesn’t need the spotlight, doesn’t demand touches, just does his job to the fullest of his capabilities.

This would probably have to be Griffin’s best Houdini trick yet, but if he’s shown us anything over the past few months, there are no limits to what he can pull off.