What's next for Celtics after Al Horford declined his player option?

The Celtics offseason just added another layer of intrigue on Tuesday after Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.com was first to report that Al Horford has declined his $30.1 million player option ahead of today's deadline and elected to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1.

Wojnarowski indicated that the Celtics and Horford still have an interest in reaching a long-term extension despite today's decision, but Horford understandably kept his options open in the wake of the team missing out on Anthony Davis and likely losing Kyrie Irving in free agency next month. Horford averaged 13.6 and 6.7 rebounds for the Celtics a season ago in the third year of a four-year max contract signed in the summer of 2016.

BSJ Analysis: This decision should come as no surprise after Horford's exclusive comments to BSJ about his priorities moving forward.

“Ever since I came into the league, I always want to contend for a championship,” Horford told BostonSportsJournal.com. “As soon as I got to Boston, especially this last couple of years, the last year we were right there. I haven’t won one yet and that’s kind of like where I want to start. That’s what I play for. I’m not playing for anything else but to win.”

The Celtics' path to contending is not a dead end entirely if Irving walks away as expected, but the route towards the top tier of the East is far less clear for Boston. That fact alone, along with what will be a pivotal draft night for the Celtics with three first-round picks on Thursday keeps a variety of different team-building options in play for the franchise, one of which may be taking a bigger step back towards building around youth this summer. Due to that reason, the Celtics may have been hesitant to commit too much to Horford now ahead of seeing what they were able to execute on Thursday night when it comes to improving the roster.

Horford's agent Jeff Schwartz finds himself in an ideal spot right now upon letting his player hit the open market. At age 33, Horford will be looking for more security and likely the last significant payday of his career while also playing for a team with title aspirations. The free agent market should be full of teams in win-now mode with significant cap room including the Clippers, Jazz, Nets, Lakers and Pacers. While it's hard to say right now any of those teams have bigger title chances (besides the Lakers) than Boston, that could change in the next month depending on what players can be added.

In the wake of serious injuries to Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson (perhaps making them more likely to stay put in Golden State), there should be more dollars available from teams in New York and Los Angeles that have hoarded cap space for much of the past 12 months, particularly if big-name free agents like Kawhi Leonard, Jimmy Butler, Kemba Walker and Tobias Harris stay put with their current squads. Even if Horford does not have an interest in one of those new destinations, he can still leverage any potential big offer into a better deal from Boston. There is no real incentive for him to take any kind of discount from Boston now either with the team's title aspirations taking a hit so the C's will have to pay full freight to bring back the four-time All-Star. A three-year deal starting at $23-25 million per year is probably a good starting point for what Horford is looking for after declining $30 million, according to league sources.

The Celtics will be able to pay Horford any amount up to the max (they maintain full Bird Rights on him) and there is also the possibility they could facilitate a sign-and-trade deal to a team without major cap space in order to secure compensation if Horford decides he wants to leave Boston for somewhere without cap space. Houston looms as the most likely choice if he goes that route.

The smart money remains on Horford staying in Boston but these negotiations add an extra degree of pressure on the Celtics heading into draft night on Thursday. Some additional work may need to be done to the Celtics roster to help convince Horford that he has a legitimate chance of contending upon re-signing with the C's. Danny Ainge will be able to outbid any of his suitors (I wouldn't expect anyone to offer Horford his max, which is north of $35 million), but the allure of teaming up with a star like Leonard if he lands in Los Angeles could be appealing for Horford. Will the Celtics offer enough and add win now pieces in the next two weeks to keep their second-best player? Or will a lack of appealing options on the trade market and a risky price tag for a veteran lead the Celtics to look to the free agent market for younger pieces? The Celtics could open up $28.2 million in cap room if they let Horford, Marcus Morris and Terry Rozier walk.

Both possibilities remain in play for a team that could have a serious makeover heading to the 2019-20 campaign, but it remains clear that the Celtics don't want to let their best two assets walk out the door for nothing. Tuesday's decision puts that possibility in play.