By: Opinionated MJ ( Michael Tolliver Jr)

If I asked you who in the NBA do you think could turn the tide for any playoff team, who would you name? I’ve got one for you that you likely wouldn’t think of. Out of sight, out of mind, unless you are his wife or a die hard fan. I haven’t seen any of those for this particular player. I think he has the ability to turn the fortunes around for every team, including play-in teams. They all don’t have this ingredient. You could say I’m giving him his roses early.

I’ll get straight to the point.

AL HORFORD!

Now. If You’re Miami, Charlotte, Portland, Utah, any California team, Dallas especially, Boston right now, but probably not Philly, this man could truly turn your fortunes around. The only problem is that OKC sacked him instead of buying him out. I don’t understand that but ok. It could actually give them bad karma going forward if thats something that wasn’t in his best interests at all. I can’t see any veteran player without a ring just WILLINGLY sitting out for the rest of the season on a lottery team. Maybe the situation is different. Maybe he’s fine with it. I’ll say this, WE HAVEN’T HEARD ANY NOISE ABOUT HIM! WHY? I’m throwing caution in the wind because I don’t know if he’s being held hostage or what not. I just know that he is what I believe to be a gatekeeper of this years playoffs. If only he was active.

What is currently a huge premium right now? A stretch big man. Al Horford could help spell Rudy Gobert, Draymond Green, Bam Adebayo, Jusef Nurkic, and he would definitely help a team like the Charlotte Hornets and Washington Wizards. His ability to stretch the floor, rebound, make shots at the basket, and play serviceable defense are not being spoken of AT ALL in this entire scheme of things. I think I’ve seen one article. Maybe I’m wrong. I also think that article was from right when he was canned for the season.

Why wouldn’t OKC just buy him out and let him walk? I know they think everyone has some worth. He has great worth. I’m not sure who’s their talent evaluator now. They must know that they can get something of value in return for him and opted to wait until the offseason to exercise their ability to move him for another asset. This is likely what the new trend will be for GM’s going forward who have been upset with how the Brooklyn Nets supposedly fleeced the buyout marker. I guess you don’t buyout the player. Some teams are just more ready to move forward than others and don’t care if their buyout determines a title.

I turly think that if Al Horford were free and were in Utah or on the Lakers, it would ensure a championship. The Oklahoma City Thunder keeping him have basically kept him from a championship this season if he was healthy. I really think that he would’ve made a huge impact if he were to land anywhere once the waiver wire opened up and if a franchise were to pick him up. He would’ve been the X Factor. The Gatekeeper. I have no reason to believe otherwise based on what he was doing with SGA and what he’s done historically. He’s been a very steady player. Maybe there’s someone out there with the cache and ability to truly look into why no one made a big fuss about him. Maybe they didn’t value him the way I do. I honestly think if anyone thinks he’s worth nothing, they’re wrong. Put him on the Warriors with nuclear Steph and I guarantee that would’ve turned into a problem. Hell, don’t be surprised if he goes there or somewhere will he will be able to show his ass when he gets the chance.