After Al Horford opened the door in a Herald story to the idea he may have stayed with the Celtics had he known Kemba Walker would be the point guard, there was the reply in media that such a maneuver would have been too hard if not impossible to pull off.

But such is not the case. According to league sources involved with players and another of the teams in the mix, the intricate deal needed may not have been what killed the possibility.

To stay within collective bargaining and salary cap regulations, the Celtics would have had to execute a three-way trade that got Kyrie Irving to Brooklyn, Terry Rozier to Charlotte and Walker to the Celtics. The Nets could get Irving without any help, and no doubt they would have wanted something of value in exchange for doing the Celts a favor.

Sources indicated that such talks took place, and while nothing ever got to the point where a final agreement could take place, Brooklyn had a price, and it could have been met.

The problem that ultimately derailed all of this before it could get close was that Horford, perhaps not wanting to wait to see if these gears could mesh, chose to stick with his agreement to sign with Philadelphia as a free agent.

Therefore, no front office gymnastics were required.

The issue resurfaced Wednesday when Horford responded to a pair of hypothetical questions from the Herald.

Asked if he would have remained with the Celtics had Irving done so, he said, “I’m not sure that has anything to do with it for me. I just think that if Kyrie would have stayed, I don’t know if it would have worked. There would have had to be some major changes as far as players, because it was just clear that the group that we had just wasn’t going to be able to coexist.”

The follow-up was on if he’d known Walker was on the way.

“I don’t want to get caught up in the past,” Horford said, “but, yeah, that would have been totally different.” Related Articles Al Horford finds hope in Philadelphia after Celtics crash

Al Horford renews his chance at a title — in Philadelphia

Terry Rozier happy to see his old Celtics mates

It is clear, however, that he likes his situation with the 76ers, getting to play more at power forward with Joel Embiid manning the pivot. And while he did get a better deal than the Celtics were first offering, it was reported in the same Herald story that in the end Boston did offer the 33-year-old a fourth year.

Tatum stays the course

As Jayson Tatum went through a 2018-19 season that didn’t quite live up to his own or others’ expectations for growth, there was the wide discussion that maybe working with Kobe Bryant in the summer had not been best for him. That idea was given a voice of sorts this past week in an espn.com article headlined, “The de-Kobe-ing of Jayson Tatum has begun.”

Asked after Friday’s win in Orlando about his stated desire to shoot more 3-pointers and go to the basket, rather than taking mid-range jumpers, Tatum countered

“I’m still going to shoot the mid-range,” he said. “I’ve seen all the people talking about the de-Kobe-ing. Nah, Kobe didn’t teach me anything bad. Everything that we talked about and he showed me was great.

“You know, last year the jump that I didn’t make, or that everybody expected, it was not his fault. He’s one of the greatest ever, so everything he taught me, I’m very grateful and it helped me. But I’ve got to take responsibility for how I played last year, not being the bigger jump that people thought.”

As for why he didn’t take those strides forward, Tatum said, “It was a lot of things, the team aspect. We didn’t win that many games, and it was tough. We were 10-10, so when you’re 10-10 and everybody thought we was going to win a championship, nobody looked that good last year.

“I felt like I got better last year, just not what people expected — not what I expected — and I’ll take full responsibility. That’s why I’m excited for this year. But, yeah, Kobe didn’t teach me any bad habits. I didn’t say that.”

Tacko stays steady

There was more chanting for Tacko Fall in Orlando, where the Celtics roster hopeful played his college ball for UCF. Brad Stevens, too, enjoyed it, but he worries that it will get out of hand and be a hindrance to the 7-foot-7 center.

“No offense to anybody,” Stevens said, “I think it’s fun that everybody’s excited about it. But I’m sure it’s not comfortable for him. But this is why I say all the time how impressed I am with him, because he just handles everything with a smile and grace.”

Said Marcus Smart, who got in on the Tacko chants and, under Stevens’ directive, summoned Fall to play in the fourth quarter, “I was telling him he’s got to do something with that. I’ve never seen a player like that where people just go crazy just to get him in the game. And his name is perfect, so I just told him, ‘You know, you could do something with it. You need to.’ I was just trying to help him out, get him in the game.”