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The NBA’s silly season has officially arrived and Atlanta Hawks’ center Al Horford is one of the biggest names on the market. Horford met with several teams during the opening of the free agent period but still has not reached a deal according to ESPN.com’s Ramona Shelburne.
Al Horford does not have a deal with the Hawks in place as Night 1 gets late, so he's been fielding calls from all over the league
— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) July 1, 2016
At this point it doesn’t appear that Horford has closed the book on anything, the Hawks hesitation to offer him a fifth year may be the deciding factor in their ability to retain him. Shelburne also reports that the fifth year is the key for Atlanta chances to retain Horford.
One team that reportedly did not reach out to Horford was the Los Angeles Lakers who instead agreed to a reported 4-year, $64 million deal with Timofey Mozgov.