Report: Celtics emerge as favorites to sign Kemba

The Boston Celtics may have found their Kyrie Irving replacement.

Boston is now considered the front-runner to sign point guard Kemba Walker when free agency kicks off Sunday evening, sources told Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

The Celtics will offer Walker a four-year deal worth $141 million - the max he can receive from any team except for the Charlotte Hornets - and he appears increasingly likely to accept it, Wojnarowski reports.

In order to open up enough cap room to sign Walker, Boston can renounce its bird rights to restricted free agent Terry Rozier, according to Wojnarowski. Rozier's cap hold on the Celtics' books is at $9.1 million, courtesy of Spotrac.

Negotiations between Walker and his current team, the Hornets, hit a stalemate due to sizable gaps in talks, The Athletic's Shams Charania reports. The breakdown apparently opened up a pathway for competitors, including teams in New York, the Dallas Mavericks, and the Celtics.

After making the All-NBA third team this past season, Walker made himself eligible for a super-max extension, though it's unclear if the Hornets will offer him the five-year, $221-million contract. The 29-year-old said earlier this month he was open to taking less than the max extension in order to remain in Charlotte.

Walker averaged a career-best 25.6 points to go with 5.9 assists and 4.4 rebounds last season. Charlotte drafted the three-time All-Star ninth overall in 2011.