Much has been made of the Celtics’ offseason prospects, and Sam Hauser’s name keeps coming up as a hot trade candidate. The reasons are obvious; the Celtics need to upgrade the roster, and Sam has some appeal around the league as a sharpshooter with a very movable $10+ million contract.
Lots of teams could use a player like Hauser, and they could easily absorb his deal, which makes him an attractive option for almost everyone in the NBA. Add the Cs’ ability to take back money with their TPEs, and it makes a lot of sense for them to dangle Hauser as a sweetener in a deal to upgrade the roster.
But beyond his obvious value as a trade chip, there’s another great reason for the Celtics to move on from Hauser that has nothing to do with the return in a potential trade, and that’s the plethora of players behind him on the roster that are ready to step into his role.
Boston thrived this season largely thanks to their young two-way wing menaces: Baylor Scheierman, Jordan Walsh, Hugo Gonzalez, and Ron Harper Jr. All of those players are younger and cheaper than Hauser, and beyond pure shooting, they all have much more complete skill sets and potential.
Celtics have replacements for Hauser all over the roster
It would be unfair to call this move addition by subtraction, as Hauser is truly one of the best shooters in the league and a very good player on an attractive contract. But Brad Stevens has built up insane depth on the wing, and the Celtics need to lean into it more. They have bulldogs on the defensive end who dominate the offensive glass and can all do some things on the offensive end as well.
It’s a massive advantage, and sadly, they went away from it way too much in the playoffs. Hauser had a rough go of it in the Philly series, and Joe Mazzulla was stubborn and refused to shake up his rotations until it was too late. He would have been much better suited to go with his more athletic, defensive-minded wings, who were making positive impacts in their limited minutes.
With another year under each of their belts, they should all be ready to take on bigger roles, and along with the Jays, Boston should be absolutely stacked on the wing. And that’s why they should use Hauser to go attack a position of greater need; either guard or big man.
If the Celtics can turn Hauser (and whatever other assets or tools at their disposal) into another guard who can pressure the rim or a reliable center, they can easily fill in the minutes around them with these youngsters who have proven ready for bigger roles anyway. Sam has been a great Celtic, but at this point, it’s just about diminishing returns with all of this overlap positionally, and all of this talent waiting in the wings (pun intended).
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