Gary Dineen/Getty Images

Charlotte Hornets point guard Kemba Walker, who will be a free agent this offseason, is eligible for a $221 million supermax contract from the team that drafted him ninth overall in 2011.

One of his teammates is working overtime to ensure Charlotte has enough money to get the deal done.

Hornets center Cody Zeller is selling lemonade at 25 cents per cup to keep Walker in town:

Unfortunately for Zeller, his business plan may need work. He'll need to sell 884 million cups of lemonade to hit $221 million, which is a challenge in its own right, but that doesn't count the cost of production.

In this case, it looks like Zeller is reselling cups of Simply Lemonade, which he looks to have in 89-ounce containers. The going rate for one of those is $3.99 per numerous sources, and he is selling the lemonade in red solo cups that measure 16 ounces.

Let's say he fills that up three-quarters of the way to 12 ounces. In other words, each Simply Lemonade gallon contains roughly 7.417 solo cups of lemonade. If Zeller is selling the lemonade for a quarter per cup, then he's actually losing roughly $2.14 for every gallon purchased, not including tax. Ultimately, he's better off playing the Mega Millions, whose jackpot is $475 million. 

Zeller doesn't have to worry about ponying up the cash for Walker, of course, but the sentiment is correct.

The ex-UConn star averaged a career-high 25.6 points en route to being named an All-Star starter for the first time in his career last year. He's one of the game's best scorers and will be a tremendous asset wherever he winds up.

The question is whether the Hornets' brass feels the same way despite the high supermax price tag.