Marc Stein of ESPN.com reports:

The reigning NBA champions are about to lose their glue guy.

James Posey, arguably the most coveted unrestricted free agent left on the market, agreed to a four-year deal with the New Orleans Hornets on Wednesday worth an estimated $25 million, his agent, Mark Bartelstein, said.

Because of future luxury-tax concerns, Boston was apparently reluctant to offer Posey, 31, more than a two- or three-year deal starting at the league’s mid-level exception (just under $5.6 million) in spite of Posey’s considerable contributions to the Celtics’ first championship since 1986.

For four years at $25 million, I’m not quite as disappointed as I had thought I would be if Pose did indeed decide to go elsewhere. Regardless, this is a big loss and our version of “Big Game James” will be missed dearly.

There is a positive side to this, however. The Celtics do not have to commit long-term to an aging veteran, and they still have the full mid-level exception to use this summer. While the free agent pool is thinning out by the week, there is plenty of talent waiting to be directed towards a new home.

Stay tuned, C’s fans.

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