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Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

Current Team: Atlanta Hawks

Age: 30

Position: C

2015-16 Per-Game Stats: 15.2 points, 7.3 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 0.8 steals, 1.5 blocks

"I've set up here with my family," Al Horford told Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "We all live here. We live here in the summer. We live here year-round. I'm very grateful for all the people here. They have taken me in from the very first day, even though I was a Gator. They loved me. I really love the city."

That and the Atlanta Hawks' ability to offer more money than anyone else—thank you, Bird rights—should give Horford more than enough motivation to remain in Georgia's capital city. And the Hawks should want him back as well.

Giving up on Horford would be akin to entering a full-fledged rebuild—something Atlanta doesn't need to do after earning strong playoff positions in each of the last few seasons. Running it back may seem ill-advised on the heels of the beatdown the Cleveland Cavaliers inflicted in this year's postseason, but the Hawks can make smaller changes—shopping Kyle Korver and Jeff Teague, for example—designed to increase the organization's limited upside.

Horford and Paul Millsap are the foundation of the Hawks' success. Especially when other teams begin making their interests known, Atlanta should realize just how important the former is to the future.

Of course, if they successfully complete the potential trade first reported by The Vertical's Shams Charania, which would send Teague to the Philadelphia 76ers for Nerlens Noel, Kent Bazemore suddenly becomes the player most likely to earn a new contract this summer since Noel would seemingly replace Horford up front.