NBA Trade Rumors: Celtics unwilling to pay premium price for Al Horford, Dwight Howard, per report

The clock is ticking on the NBA's trade deadline and teams continue to work the phones in an effort to strengthen themselves for the stretch run. The Atlanta Hawks remain in the middle of a lot of rumors but reports indicate that a deal for All-Star center Al Horford may be becoming less likely. The Vertical's Adrian Wojnarowski reports that the Boston Celtics, who are thought to be the principle suitor for Horford, are unwilling to pay a premium price to obtain him at the deadline.

Sources: So far, Boston's showing unwillingness to pay premium prices on rentals for Al Horford and Dwight Howard.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojVerticalNBA) February 18, 2016

The issue for a team trading for Horford would be the uncertainty they would have as to whether they could retain him this summer. Horford will be a free agent for the first time in his career and is sure to draw plenty of interest on the free agent market.

One NBA team executive said most free agents to be, i.e. Anderson, Horford, won’t commit to possible trade partners so that can impact deals

— Marc J. Spears (@SpearsNBAYahoo) February 18, 2016

That is leverage that players wait their entire career to have and they aren't going to waste that by committing privately to a team now.