As we inch closer to the 2022-23 regular season, the annual exercise of ranking everything that isn’t nailed down continues in the NBA media as is the custom ahead of Opening Night, and starting Boston Celtics power forward Al Horford can’t escape the assessment of Sporting News’ Stephen Noh in his latest positional rankings for the 4 around the league.
But Horford might not want to anyway given Noh sees the Florida product as the ninth-best swingman in the Association, checking ahead of names on the come-up like Scottie Barnes of the Toronto Raptors and Evan Mobley of the Cleveland Cavaliers.
“Horford looked like he might be close to done a few years ago, but he revitalized his career at age 35 with the Celtics,” writes the S/N analyst. “He’s an extremely high-feel defender, and he guards stars like Antetokounmpo as well as anyone else in the league.”
This content is not available due to your privacy preferences.
Update your settings here to see it.
“Horford has also become a good 3-point shooter in the back half of his career,” adds Noh. “He hit an absurd 48% of his 3-pointers in the 2022 NBA Playoffs and has canned 36% of his 3-point attempts for his career.”
Listen to the “Celtics Lab” podcast on:
Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3zBKQY6
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3GfUPFi
Related
Boston’s Jaylen Brown ranked in Sporting News’ top five NBA shooting guards
Boston’s Jaylen Brown just outside of Sports Illustrated’s top 20 NBA players for 2022-23
Celtics’ Marcus Smart cracks Sports Illustrated’s top 50 NBA players list for 2022-23
Boston’s Grant Williams just outside Sports Illustrated’s top 100 NBA players for 2022-23
Celtics Lab 145: Honoring Bill Russell’s legacy and talking Boston basketball with Rep. Ayanna Pressley
The Athletic’s Shams Charania adds some context to the Celtics’ Ime Udoka scandal
List
ESPN’s Zach Lowe projects the Boston Celtics as contenders despite offseason hiccups
List
What should we expect from the Boston Celtics in 2022-23?
List
Celtics’ Jayson Tatum ranked inside ESPN’s top 10 of 2022-23 top 100 players
List
NBA, Celtics media react to Boston’s 112-103 preseason win over the Charlotte Hornets (10/7)
Story originally appeared on Celtics Wire