Walker will likely technically come to Boston via a trade, with the Athletic reporting that Terry Rozier has agreed to a three-year, $58 million deal with Charlotte and that the two will ultimately switch sides via a sign-and-trade. But since their salaries do not match, the Celtics will either have to include another asset or find a third team to jump in, perhaps involving Kyrie Irving’s departure for the Nets or Al Horford’s departure for another team.
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There was speculation Sunday the Celtics could be in the midst of a series of sign-and-trade moves to put themselves in position to bring Horford back after all. But a league source indicated on Sunday night this sign-and-trade was not expected to be part of a larger scheme. Instead, it is more likely that it will be a quest for Boston to operate as an over-the-cap team, thus allowing it to have the full $9.2 mid-level exception to use on other free agents rather than just the $4.7 million room exception it would have had if it had signed Walker using cap space.
The Walker deal has seemed imminent for days, of course, and the Celtics’ focus will quickly shift toward bolstering their frontcourt. The sign-and-trade with Rozier that should give them the $9.2 million mid-level exception would be a helpful starting point. Also, they should no longer have to renounce their free agent rights to other players like Horford and Marcus Morris, once again making it possible for those players to return.
But the chances of Horford coming back to Boston still appear slim. While so many free agent deals and meetings have become public knowledge this week, his plan has remained mostly cloaked in secrecy.
According to a league source, Horford plans to speak with several teams on Sunday night and then make a final decision on Monday or Tuesday. He might have no interest in coming back to Boston, or the Celtics might have no interest in upping their initial offer.
https://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/celtics/2019/06/30/here-are-teams-interested-terry-rozier/4daK3prNsotJe5iuRtWMmK/story.html
Since the Celtics would finish the Rozier-Walker sign-and-trade under the cap, they don’t need to match Walker’s salary. Accordingly, they don’t need to find a third team. They’ll probably get something small from Charlotte for doing them a favor (getting the Rozier) and giving themselves the minor constraint of the hard cap as a result, but probably not much. As they’re not going to sniff the tax if they don’t actually go over the cap in acquiring Walker (just the room exception, Theis, and minimums to fill the roster) much less get near the apron, for practical purposes they aren’t really limited.