The Boston Celtics will have a ton of tough decisions to make this summer, but unless absolutely necessary, they should avoid trading Sam Hauser. Getting below the second apron will be necessary, and ditching Hauser’s contract could help with that, but he’s far too valuable for Boston to move right now.
Finding elite three-point shooting in the NBA is hard. Finding a guy as incredible at shooting the ball as Hauser is even harder. And finding someone like Hauser on a contract as cheap as Hauser’s is almost impossible. Though Hauser would definitely bring back some value, he’s more useful to the Celtics than any return would be.
Trading Hauser would be a mistake.
Sam Hauser’s three-point shooting is still underrated
But it’s more than just the shooting. It’s the shooting efficiency, volume, and availability combined.
This was the first time in Hauser’s career that he dealt with a real injury. Back issues plagued him for most of the season, but especially in the beginning portion of the year. Yet he still cracked the 70-game mark.
Across the entire league, only 13 players shot 40% from three on at least five attempts while also playing at least 70 games this past season: Zach LaVine, Darius Garland, Malik Beasley, Payton Pritchard, Gary Trent Jr., Brice Sensabaugh, Tyus Jones, Isaiah Joe, Lu Dort, Georges Niang, Royce O’Neale, AJ Green, and Hauser.
In 2023-24, once again, only 13 players met all those requirements.
But only two names on the list were the same: Beasley and Hauser.
Even if you stretch to the previous year (2022-23), the only reason Hauser didn’t crack the list again is because he only took 4.2 threes per game. And even if you move the goalpost to at least four attempts, the only repeat names are Hauser, Joe, and Niang (and those latter two didn’t show up in 2023-24).
Hauser’s shooting isn’t just great. It’s not just elite. It’s in a world of its own.
The value of Sam Hauser’s contract
Heading into this next season, Hauser is slated to make just over $10 million. And he’s under contract for three more years past that, making $12.45 million in the final season.
For context, here are some players on similarly valued contracts (not including rookie deals): Aaron Nesmith, Aaron Wiggins, Mike Conley, Terance Mann, Isaac Okoro, and Gabe Vincent.
There’s a noticeable split. The first two guys are two of the best role players in the NBA, the second is an elite veteran, and the last three have looked pretty average for the past couple of seasons.
Imagine the Indiana Pacers, Oklahoma City Thunder, or Minnesota Timberwolves just dumping those three contracts because they wanted to save some cap space. They needed to save some cap space. It would be a crazy move. The same can be said about the Celtics ditching Hauser.
The reality of the situation
It is very possible that the Celtics end up trading Hauser to save some money in hopes of having someone like Baylor Scheierman step into his place. And unfortunately, they may not have a choice, depending on how the Kristaps Porzingis and/or Jrue Holiday trades go.
But there is no replacing Hauser’s shooting. Scheierman is a fine player, but he’s not the shooter that Hauser is. In fact, there may not be a pure shooter like Hauser in the entire NBA.
With his numbers and current long-term contract, trading him would be a complete misfire.