Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald reports that Walter McCarty will be back with the Celtics next year.

McCarty agreed to a one-year, minimum salary contract, which will be a big pay cut from last year?s $3.125 million salary. In the new world order of the NBA, with the luxury tax looming, such numbers will become rare for non-starters.

General manager Chris Wallace stated the comfort factor in the McCarty signing, saying, ``We know him. He knows us. The fans know him. Tommy Heinsohn likes him. You know, it's a natural. We were concerned about what would happen to Tommy if he couldn't say `I love Walter' anymore.''

This was the only guaranteed offer he had yet received, but McCarty noted other teams had expressed interest and such an offer from one of them could have been forthcoming. But with personal issues such as his marriage a week from tomorrow pending, he chose to stay the course with the Celtics for at least another season.

``I guess I feel so-so about it,'' he said last night. ``I knew there was a possibility this was going to happen. I was very aware of it. I looked at going somewhere else, but I just want to be happy right now. I'm just concerned with my wedding right now, and I didn't want a lot of other things in the way.?

``Right now is not a good time for me to be negotiating a contract and holding out. This is an important time in my life and I want it to go as smoothly as it can.''