The Boston Celtics are too talented. It’s why they won the NBA Championship this past year in dominant fashion. They parlayed a 64-win regular season into a 16-3 playoff run, capping off the year with Banner 18. Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and the rest of the starting lineup stole the show. But while those five guys (plus Al Horford) are incredible, their surplus of talent means guys like Sam Hauser are stuck firmly on the bench.
Hauser signed with the Celtics as an undrafted free agent after the 2021 NBA Draft. He began the season on a two-way contract and was eventually converted to a standard deal deep into the year. Fast forward to now, and he’s a starting-level player who Boston just locked up on a team-friendly deal to come off their bench.
Sam Hauser has the talent of an NBA starter, but he's coming off the bench for the Celtics
There are different types of starters in the NBA. Obviously, if a team wants to be in the upper echelon of rosters, they’ll need a star or two. And perhaps even a superstar. Hauser doesn’t fall into those categories.
The best teams also have high-level role players who are borderline stars. Think Derrick White. Aaron Gordon. OG Anunoby. Hauser isn’t quite there yet, either.
But then there is a third category: The role player who meshes perfectly with the stars. That’s Hauser to a tee.
First and foremost, Hauser is one of the best three-point shooters in the NBA. He shot 42.4% from beyond the arc last season on 5.9 attempts per game. That percentage ranked 11th in the league amongst qualified players. Of the top 20, only five didn’t start a majority of the games they played in—Hauser, Norman Powell, Garrison Matthews, Cason Wallace, and Isaiah Joe.
The real key to Hauser’s starter-level talent is his defense.
Despite opponents treating him like a liability on the defensive end, Hauser was one an extremely impressive one-on-one defender last year. Opposing teams targeted him, but the Celtics star shut them down.
Boston’s entire defensive game plan in the Finals was contingent on them being okay with letting Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving switch onto Hauser. And while Doncic shot a high clip (10-of-15), they were all two-pointers. Irving was very ineffective against Hauser (3-of-9).
Plus, at 6-foot-8, he’s the perfect size to play the small forward position—one of the most important in the league.
Just imagine how many teams would love to have Hauser starting for them.
He would slide in perfectly next to LeBron James and Anthony Davis. Doncic would have loved to have Hauser’s shooting behind the arc in the Finals. Swapping out Hauser for Tobias Harris might have helped the Philadelphia 76ers in the postseason. The Oklahoma City Thunder would have loved to have his shooting with size during the playoffs.
And that’s just the competitive teams.
Hauser is good enough to start in the NBA. But the Celtics are lucky enough to have him coming off the pine. And now that he’s under contract in Boston for four more years after his current deal, one thing is clear: The rich only get richer.