How much sense would Kemba Walker make for Celtics as a max target?

There is no clear cut plan for the Celtics when free agency opens up on June 30th next week, which means there is going to be a steady stream of rumors connected to the team to fill big holes left on the roster following the anticipated departures of Kyrie Irving and Al Horford. One of the biggest names to surface thus far came on Tuesday afternoon as Marc Stein of the New York Times reports that the Celtics are emerging as a "stealth suitor" for the All-Star guard.

So how much stock can we put into a big name like this? What options would the Celtics have to build a team with Walker? And what other factors could be behind this rumor? Let’s start rolling throw some of the possibilities right now to figure out whether the UConn product could find himself in Green next year.

What would Walker cost?

Walker is in a bit of a unique situation. He made third-team All-NBA this year, which makes him eligible for a Supermax contract from the Hornets this summer.

Charlotte would normally be able to offer him an extra year and a higher annual raise (8 percent) on his next contract. Since Walker is eligible, he can be offered a higher annual salary (35 percent of the salary cap) instead of the normal percentage players with 7-9 years experience can be offered (30 percent of salary cap). How big of a difference is that? Pretty significant.

What Celtics or any other suitor can offer: Four years, $140 million per year ($35 million AAV)
What Hornets can normally offer a max free agent like Walker: Five years, $190 million ($37 million AAV)
What Hornets can offer Walker thanks to Supermax: Five years, $220 million. ($44 million AAV)

Even though Walker can be offered the supermax, that’s not going to happen. Only four players have received one thus far and two of those contracts look like disasters (Westbrook and Wall). The Hornets are a small market team with tax issues so they will be careful not to overextend to make those money issues work. However, Walker's agent will be sure to push on this front, knowing the Hornets can go far higher than other teams with their offer.

How would Walker fit into the C’s cap situation?

This would essentially clear the deck for Boston. A max contract would start at $32.7 million for the 2019-20 season and the Celtics have the ability to open up just over $34 million in cap room if they renounce their free agent cap holds. That means saying goodbye to Irving, Horford, Marcus Morris and Terry Rozier. They could still keep Brad Wanamaker or Daniel Theis on the books and fit Walker in but everyone else would need to be cleared out.

That would leave the Celtics with this roster:

PG: Walker, Smart, Edwards
SG: Brown, Langford
SF: Hayward
PF: Tatum, Grant Williams, Ojeleye
C: Rob Williams, Yabusele

The Celtics would still be able to use the room-level exception ($4.6 million) to address the big hole in the frontcourt with the departures of Horford and Aron Baynes. They would also have veterans’ minimum contracts as well as trades to help retool the roster further. The only potential alternative here is a long-shot scenario of a sign-and-trade involving Horford, Walker and a third team. This would only happen if Horford wanted to sign with a team without the cap room to sign him. The C's would have to probably send the Hornets a pick or two to make it happen but wouldn't have to renounce cap holds on Morris if they pull it off, while still being left with the mid-level exception. A long shot, but something that will be explored if the pieces align.

Would Walker be a good fit as a Celtic?

Positives

Shot creator: The Celtics are losing their best weapon on that front with Irving but Walker is as close to a top-tier replacement for that production the team can get on the open market. He’s coming off a career year (25.6 ppg) on a bad Hornets team that had nearly no elite offensive talent around him. Despite that, Walker regularly wreaked havoc in the pick-and-roll and with his pull-up game, demoralizing the Celtics in two comeback wins in Charlotte, one of which caused Irving to throw Brad Stevens under the bus for his decision not to double team Walker.

Gets to the free throw line: This is one thing he does much better than Irving. He averaged 5.5 free throw attempts per game last season, the best of his career and is a top-5 number for point guards across the league. He may be small (6-foot-1) but he draws contact well and is an elite free throw shooter (84 percent) on top of it.

Team-first guy: Danny Ainge talked about the value of having ‘good people at work’ on Monday and Walker certainly fits the bill on that front. He’s been a hard-working gamer with little to work with throughout much of his career in Charlotte, but he’s never caused a fuss or asked out. He is adored by the community and teammates in Charlotte, having served as the face of the franchise for years now amid all kinds of changes and bad signings. He’s a shoot-first player but he’s never been labeled as selfish (5.9 assists per game). Can play well on and off the ball. Would be a nice weapon on offense for Brad Stevens to plug and play in a variety of roles depending on lineups.

Durability: Has only missed six games total over the past four seasons. He’s also only missed over 10 games once over his eight-year career (2014-15).

Drawbacks

Defense: His size (6-foot-1) makes him an easy target for opposing defenses. He’s not known to be a dog when it comes to effort on that end of the floor but it certainly is a weakness. The Hornets have shown the ability to be a top-10 defense with Walker on the floor though when he was surrounded by strong defenders in Steve Clifford’s system. After Irving’s lapses last year, he won’t even be a downgrade in that department on the whole.

Finishing at the rim: It’s hard to make layups over or around 7-footers when you are 6-foot-1. Walker is a potent scorer with a pull up that he can hit from nearly anywhere but his conversion rate at the rim is less than inspiring. He’s a 55 percent career shooter from inside of three feet and that is a subpar number for any All-Star player. Some better teammates and spacing could help improve that number but it’s been a weakness for him throughout his time in Charlotte.

Is he a No. 1 option on a contender? This is the question the Celtics brass is going to have to answer all offseason if they consider throwing all of their resources at one guy. Walker should get a max deal somewhere next summer but the question is whether a guy who has just 11 playoff games on his NBA resume cover eight seasons can lift the current Celtics to the next level after the departures of Horford and Irving. He’s a great replacement for Kyrie and arguably a better fit in the system (with far better intangibles) but with no way to adequately replace Horford (without a trade), signing him might be a road to a very good but not great team. He also just turned 29 so there is no guarantee this deal will look favorable in 2-3 years when he’s making $40 million annually on the wrong side of 30.

So what’s the verdict?

This is one of the more realistic candidates among the rumored names that the Celtics could throw a max contract at. He’s better than Nikola Vucevic in my mind (shot creation!) but the question the front office will need to ask is whether they can build a contender with him.

The Celtics will have a strong pitch to get him away from Charlotte from a competition standpoint since the Hornets look like a first round out at best for the foreseeable future with their dismal cap situation. Boston also could have competition for Walker from teams like the Knicks, Mavericks, Clippers or other teams with max cap space to throw around but they look pretty appealing compared to most of those squads from a teambuilding standpoint.

My read for now? This is one of many paths that are worth exploring for Boston. How hard the team will try for this in my mind will be dependent on what type of big(s) the Celtics could land via free agency and trade to round out the roster upon signing Walker. If they can’t get a strong big or another All-Star via trade in here with their remaining pieces and picks, Walker doesn’t seem like a guy that is worth making a huge investment in to get out of what could be a loaded East. If they can land a better running mate for him and/or someone to shore up the interior defense? This path starts to make more sense.

With all that said, it’s evident the C’s have been opening up cap space for a reason the past week. Out of the top second-tier max free agents the C’s may have a chance to land realistically, Walker would be a fun watch with the added upside of seeing what he can do with far better talent around him. Whether or not Walker’s agent is trying to push some pressure on the Hornets to pay closer to the supermax with this rumor or whether the C’s really want him will become clear in the coming days.