The strongest space-type inside line remaining in the offseason! The final candidate locks in these two teams, and the Warriors have to make a comeback

After Jokic and others rise, the importance of inside players has finally improved. We can see that in order to deal with such situations, many teams will hoard multiple centers in the lineup, and even teams like the Thunder are playing in the double towers. On the other hand, it is difficult for those teams that lack qualified inside to go further in the long game, such as the Suns in the past season, who can't even enter the playoffs. There are also Lakers who won 50+ wins in the regular season. After the shortcomings of the center position in the playoffs were exposed, they were eliminated in the first round.

Under this situation, many teams in the league started to compete for the inside line again during this offseason, the first thing was the Suns. With Richards, they also traded for Ma Wei, and also selected Maruac with the 10th pick in the first round of 2025. There is also the Lakers. They obviously focused on strengthening the center after the end of the season. In the end, they were lucky enough to sign Ayton, who bought out with the Trail Blazers. The latter is a player who can contribute a double-double per game at any rate. He has proved his strength in the playoffs, so his later cooperation with Doncic, James and Reeves is still worth looking forward to.

In addition to the Suns, Lakers, there are also teams such as the Bucks, Rockets, and Clippers. They are also strengthening the inside. In order to sign Turner, the best space-type insider in the free market this summer, they even cut Lillard. This is also the most luxurious layoff in NBA history. In the next five years, the Bucks will have to pay Lillard a salary of $22.5 million every year, and this will also occupy their salary space every season. From this, we can see how risky the Bucks' decision is.

After Turner signed with the Bucks, there were even fewer space-type centers in the free market this offseason. At present, the best player in this type is 39-year-old Horford. In the early years of his career, Horford actually didn't shoot three-pointers, but in order to adapt to the rise of the league's small ball style, he also developed this skill. So starting from the 2015-2016 season, three-pointers became one of Horford's stable scoring methods.

This transformation not only allowed Horford to better adapt to the change in the league's style of play, but also extended his career. After the age of 35, Horford was still able to maintain a very high level of competitive state. In 2024, Horford successfully helped the Celtics win the championship. That year, at the age of 37, he averaged 9.2 points, 7 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 1.8 three-pointers and a three-point shooting percentage of 36.8%. With Porzingis suffering from injury, he supported the team's inside line again. After winning the championship, Horford was in good shape, and the team also had hope of defending the title, so he quickly decided to play for another year. However, the Celtics still failed to win the cup this season. Porzingis, who should have stood up to help the team during this period, still failed to get rid of the injury troubles, which led to the Celtics relying on Horford more often. At the age of 38 this year, he played 11 games, 9 of which were starting, and he averaged 31.6 minutes per game. Even so, Horford still performed well. He averaged 8 points, 6 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1.3 blocks, 1.3 three-pointers, and a three-point shooting percentage of 40%.

However, due to Tatum's injury, it is obvious that the Celtics will never be able to compete for the championship next season, so this also made Horford start to think about his future. First of all, considering his own condition, Horford has no need to retire at all. If he continues to play, he can not only earn millions of dollars, and if he is willing to change teams, he still has the hope of winning another championship before officially leaving the NBA.

So Horford quickly made the decision to test the free market, and he immediately received the attention of many teams, and there were also many teams that were striving to compete for the championship. As time goes by, the list of Horford's next company is constantly declining. At present, the two teams he has the most hope to join are the Lakers and the Warriors.

For the Lakers, although they signed Ayton, it is obviously not enough to rely on his inside line alone, and his playing style is completely different from Horford, so being able to choose one more inside line is undoubtedly beneficial to the team's system and rotation. In addition, considering Horford's playing style, it is not impossible for him to play the double towers with Ayton, after all, he can open up space from the outside. Also, Horford's defense is also very good. Whether it is the frame protection or the defense replacement, his performance is worthy of trust. For example, in a game against the Lakers this season, Horford's replacement of Doncic still left a deep impression on people.

Currently, the Lakers have a two-year special contract with an average salary of more than 5 million yuan, and they have undoubtedly given their own offer to Horford. If they can really sign the latter, even if the Lakers' inside reinforcement task is completed this offseason this year, they only need to make efforts in the trading market. As long as they sign a forward guard who can lead the defense, the Lakers will become one of the real candidate teams for championships.

In addition to the Lakers, the other team that has the most hope of getting Horford is the Warriors. Judging from the current situation, the importance of Horford to them is above the importance of Horford to the Lakers. Because the only inside lineman that the Warriors can play in the playoffs this year is Green, and the second-most playing time is Post, who averages 12.2 minutes per game. The advantages and disadvantages of these two are obvious. The former is that they are old and have average shooting. Post is just young and have no experience and cannot defend..

Therefore, if the Warriors can sign Horford, their inside rotation will become more diverse and reasonable. In comparison, the Warriors' playing style is more suitable for Horford than the Lakers. They mainly focus on the pass and cut system. Horford's support and pick-and-roll external bullets can play a greater role in this system. On the other hand, Horford's role should be more single.

In terms of salary space, the Warriors seem to be able to give more salary than the Lakers, but in fact, if they give the same price as the Lakers, they will basically not be able to keep Kumingga, so this is one of the main reasons why they are unable to sign Horford until now. Also, compared with the current paper lineup of the Lakers and Warriors, the former still has a greater hope of winning the championship. Therefore, unless the Warriors Saha gives a price that is significantly higher than the Lakers, Horford is not necessarily willing to come to Golden State.