In order to have the salary-cap room to sign Hayward, the Hornets will waive guard-forward Nic Batum and use the NBA’s stretch provision to spread cap implications of Batum’s remaining $27 million over three seasons, an NBA source confirmed to The Observer.

Source: Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer

ANALYSIS: As expected the Hornets will have to waive veteran forward Nicolas Batum to make room for the signing of free agent Gordon Hayward. Batum opted into his player option worth $27M this year and will now become an unrestricted free agent.

Batum has struggled to stay healthy in recent years and it is unclear what the market looks like for the 31-year-old forward out of France.