The Celtics need a big man. The Hornets have no real use for Chris Kaman. They made him available earlier in the season and even kept him away from the team while they explored trade possibilities.

The problem is that Kaman makes $14 million and fitting that contract under the cap is difficult, especially for a team like the Celtics who are not only over the cap, they’re also over the luxury tax line. Recent reports indicate that New Orleans is willing to accept second round picks for Kaman, but not willing to take on any more salary.

With a number of players in the final years of their contracts, there are a handful of scenarios where the Celtics could satisfy that demand, starting with the expiring deals for Jermaine O’Neal and Chris Wilcox. Adding Keyon Dooling’s expiring deal would make the math work, but adding a young player like JaJuan Johnson would make it more difficult.

Further complicating matters is the fact that the Hornets are owned by the NBA. Would the league be willing to sign-off on a deal that yielded only second round picks and expiring deals? Celtics team president Danny Ainge has said that he wasn’t going to trade future assets to help this year’s team and it’s not likely he’d be willing to part with one of his two first round picks for a short-term rental.

If the price for Kaman goes beyond those bare-bones parameters, the Celtics could wait and see if the Hornets buy him out. They’d have to make room on the roster, which is at the 15-player limit.