A month into his 16th season, 36-year-old Al Horford is staying in the moment. But that doesn’t mean he hasn’t thought about the future, both near and distant.

And when the Celtics veteran sees the NBA as these roaring ’20s progress, he sees himself in the picture. While it might seem prudent for someone of his age in the last year of his contract to think in smaller increments, Horford is packing for a long trip.

“Yeah, for sure, I’ve thought about it,” he told Heavy Sports as he sat at his locker following Monday’s 125-122 comeback win over Oklahoma City. “I want to keep playing for two, three more years, for sure.”

His age was a topic when he was fighting through the 2022 playoffs, even in a positive light as when one writer referred to him as the Antique Freak (guilty, Your Honor) during his ultimately successful series against Milwaukee’s Greek Freak, Giannis Antetokounmpo. Not so much now.

When you see how important Horford is to the Celtics’ quest for another Finals run — he’s averaging his most minutes in four years, shooting career-highs on both 2- and 3-pointers, and anchoring the inside defense in Rob Williams’ absence — it’s easy to table the question of his future here. But there is, alas, the age and the fact the Celts have thus far held him out of the second night of their three back-to-backs, as well as the contract situation.

The first is just a number to Horford, the second is precautionary maintenance and the third is a matter for further discussion. When the Celtics made the Finals last June, Horford’s partial guarantee for 2022-23 went from $14.5 million to $19.5 million. But no one believes he won’t collect the full $26.5 million.

There was no reason for the club to address the future prior to the season, and as Al pointed out Monday night, the Celtics have had a few other things on their organizational plate.