The Philadelphia 76ers thought they found the answer when they traded for Al Horford in 2019. Horford hadn't yet become an NBA champion, but he was a five-time All-Star who had earned All-Defense recognition the previous season and even performed well against Joel Embiid.
Unfortunately, Philadelphia traded Horford just one season later—and it somehow only got worse from there. Thankfully, the disaster trade has been finalized.
The 76ers traded Horford, as well as the draft rights to Théo Maledon and Vasilije Micić, to the Thunder for Terrance Ferguson, Danny Green, and Vincent Poirier. The last remaining piece of the proverbial puzzle, however, was a protected first-round pick.
The pick finally conveyed at the 2026 NBA Draft when the Oklahoma City Thunder traded the No. 17 overall selection to select Bennett Stirtz one pick higher at No. 16.
The trade is finalized, but the Horford experiment still stings given how much precious cap space was utilized to sign him and how limited the return ultimately was.
Al Horford trade finalized as Thunder draft Bennett Stirtz
Philadelphia signed Horford to a four-year, $97 million contract. It was a clear declaration that they believed he could be the difference between being a 50-win team and truly competing for a championship. Unfortunately, that experiment ended after just one season.
The 76ers were thus forced to not only go back to the drawing board from a strategic perspective, but cope with the fact that they spent $24.25 million per season on a failed attempt at improvement.
That might sound bad on the surface, but it's even worse between the margins. Philadelphia could've spent that money elsewhere, but were instead forced to accept what they could at a time when Horford's market value was depleted due to how difficult it was for teams to wrap their head around a long-term gamble on a 34-year-old big at a time when players weren't as consistently defying Father Time.
That's why the 76ers not only lost the All-Star big man, but had to give up a first-round draft pick just to get the deal over the finish line.
The 76ers now get one last grain of salt thrown in the wound as a pick they could've benefited from making themselves ended up elsewhere. Philadelphia still has V.J. Edgecombe and Tyrese Maxey as young building blocks, but it has holes in the rotation and questions to answer at large.
Thankfully, the Horford disaster is behind them and the 76ers can finally turn their attention to the future without revisiting a dreadful trade.
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