The Charlotte Hornets have officially waived forward Nic Batum according to The Athletic’s Shams Charania, clearing a path for former Boston Celtics forward Gordon Hayward to sign the four-year, $120 million deal that lured him away from the Celtics in free agency.
Batum will likely be stretched as well, and with the move the endgame for Boston is likely to resolve whether it is able to extract a sign-and-trade in exchange for an asset of some kind in order to preserve important cap flexibility going forward.
A sign-and-trade would generate a massive traded-player exception the Celtics would then have a year to use to absorb the salary of one or more players into their cap space they would otherwise lose with Hayward departing outright.
The Charlotte Hornets are waiving forward Nicolas Batum, sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) November 29, 2020
No word yet on the status of that endeavor just yet, but expect a resolution very soon with news that veteran big man Tristan Thompson having made his way to the Celtics to sign his deal with the team and prepare for training camp.
Batum for his part reportedly plans to sign with the Los Angeles Clippers after clearing waivers.
