Atlanta Hawks center Al Horford is in the final year of his contract, however he was not traded before Thursday's trade deadline. 

Continue for updates.

Hawks Keeping Core Together, Horford Staying in Atlanta

Thursday, Feb. 18

Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical reported Atlanta is "expressing its intentions to rivals [that it] plan[s] to keep [the] team intact at [the] deadline [and will be] holding onto Horford and key guards."

ESPN.com's Chris Broussard reported Horford's impending free agency "scared off" teams. 

Celtics Reportedly Leaning Against Pulling Trigger on Horford Deal

Thursday, Feb. 18

Wojnarowski reported the Boston Celtics are "showing unwillingness to pay premium prices on rentals" such as Horford.

On Wednesday, A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com reported that if the Hawks decide to trade Horford, "the [Celtics] have emerged as one of the favorites to land him."

On Feb. 12, Adam Himmelsbach of the Boston Globe reported the Celtics were "unlikely" to land Horford before Thursday's trade deadline.

Chris Mannix of The Vertical joined CSNNE.com on Feb. 10 to address the possibility of the Celtics adding Horford at the trade deadline:

I think Boston, [Horford] is a legitimate possibility for the Celtics. I think that is one of the guys across the league that Danny Ainge is the most excited about. He is a 4 man that would fit right into what Boston is trying to do. It would cost a lot of money to re-sign him in the offseason, but I think Boston is willing to pay it because they haven't paid a lot of money for players in recent years.

Horford Reportedly Part of Potential Howard Trade Talks

Monday, Feb. 15

Adam Spolane of SportsRadio 610 reported that the Hawks, Houston Rockets and Miami Heat are discussing a trade that would send Horford and Jeff Teague to the Heat, Dwight Howard to the Hawks and Goran Dragic, Hassan Whiteside and Chris Andersen to the Rockets.

Spolane added that the deal "is not imminent," reporting that the Hawks want the Heat to include Justise Winslow, but Miami is refusing to do so.

Hawks May Trade Horford, Several Veterans

Tuesday, Feb. 9

The Hawks are reportedly shopping Horford—along with Teague and Kyle Korver—before the trade deadline, per Kevin Arnovitz and Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com.

Sources indicated to Arnovitz and Windhorst that "Hawks' management and ownership have conceded internally that unless Atlanta can recapture the magic of last season's historic run, this season's team is a fringe contender" and that numerous teams would be interested in adding Horford, including potentially the Boston Celtics, Denver Nuggets and Orlando Magic.

Hawks Have Failed to Replicate Last Season's Dominance

The Hawks are currently 31-24, a far cry from the team that finished 60-22 last year and earned the top seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs.

Horford, 29, is averaging a solid 15.3 points, 6.9 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game this season.

Those numbers may make keeping him in Atlanta beyond this season difficult. Per Arnovitz and Windhorst, "The expectation is a robust market for Horford," meaning the team might have to offer him a max deal to keep him in Atlanta this summer. That type of financial commitment to Horford reportedly "has the Hawks' brass a bit skittish," however.

Many teams hesitated to deal young talent for older talent in a straight-up deal, though, and the Hawks lost some leverage in any negotiations as teams suspected they were desperate to offload Horford before the offseason.

In other words, the Hawks had little choice but to keep their core intact and hope the team can rediscover the magic of last season.

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