Charlotte Hornets general manager Mitch Kupchak does not anticipate his team will have to dip into the luxury tax next season, even if their prized talisman Kemba Walker is back on the roster.

Walker is fresh off an All-NBA selection, qualifying him for the supermax extension that could make him $221 million over the next five seasons. Yet the All-Star talent said he'd be willing to take less than the max to stay in Charlotte earlier this month.

Most around the league circles expect Charlotte to offer Walker a contract in between the max and the supermax, yet it seems Kupchak might have to thin out his roster even more to make that a possibility

“I would not anticipate that is something we would look to do,” Kupchak said of being a tax-paying team next season, according to Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer.

“There are ways to increase (the distance from the luxury-tax threshold). It’s important we address that as soon as possible. Everybody needs to get on and plan.”

That sentiment won't exactly bode well with Walker, who despite willing to cut a deal with the Hornets, wants a promise to win and to be given the tools to make that possible.

The Hornets haven't overspent in the past few years, they have simply misspent, doling out big dollars during a trigger-happy 2016 offseason — contracts that still haunt them to this day.

Charlotte might have to waive-and-stretch a veteran like Bismack Biyombo or trade the likes of Marvin Williams to go under the tax, yet any incoming help would likely be under a minimum contract, which only turns this issue right back on its head.

Staying under the luxury tax is likely an edict of owner Michael Jordan, who has been reaping the profits of owning a team, but without doling out the financial backing to make it prosper.

Unless Jordan and company can have a change of heart, it could become tough to convince Walker to stay this offseason, no matter how many dollars are thrown his way.