Could Lonnie Walker IV wind up joining the Celtics’ roster after all?

Boston signed Walker to a training camp tryout contract this summer before eventually releasing the veteran guard after the preseason. Rather than joining the Celtics’ G League team, Walker chose to play in the EuroLeague, signing with Lithuanian club Zalgiris Kaunas.

But his Zalgiris contract includes an NBA buyout clause until Feb. 18, and Boston is among the teams interested in potentially bringing Walker back stateside, according to a report from longtime NBA insider Marc Stein.

Stein reported Walker “is drawing NBA interest” and listed the Celtics as one of five “potential suitors,” along with the Philadelphia 76ers, Minnesota Timberwolves, Miami Heat and Denver Nuggets.

The Celtics never filled their final 15-man roster spot after waiving Walker, choosing to carry just 14 players into the season to maintain flexibility and avoid paying additional luxury tax penalties. (Because Boston is a second-apron team, even rostering Walker at a $2.1 million minimum salary would have cost the team close to $10 million total.)

If they accept the financial implications, the Celtics could sign Walker to their roster without making a corresponding move. They also could trade a player like end-of-the-bench guard Jaden Springer, who owns the eighth-highest salary on the roster ($4 million) and ranks 14th in minutes played this season, to ease their tax burden.

Injuries have forced the Celtics to rely more on their bench through their first 32 games — their preferred starting five has played just 85 minutes together, and they’ve yet to play a full game with all eight of their core rotation players available — and that bench could use another scorer outside of Payton Pritchard and Sam Hauser.

Deep reserves Drew Peterson and Jordan Walsh have had some positive moments, especially defensively, but Peterson, Walsh, Springer and rookie Baylor Scheierman have scored 80 total points in 381 minutes this season. Hauser, who’s dealt with a lingering lower-back issue, also has already missed more games (seven) than he did in the last two seasons combined.

Walker is averaging a team-best 14.7 points in 23 minutes per game for Zalgiris, shooting a respectable 36.8% from 3-point range. The 26-year-old Miami product previously spent time with the San Antonio Spurs, Los Angeles Lakers and Brooklyn Nets, logging 322 NBA appearances with 88 starts.