The 2023, 2024 and 2025 drafts all saw the Celtics select wings with their top pick. In all three cases, they found contributing players in Jordan Walsh, Baylor Scheierman and Hugo Gonzalez. With Jayson Tatum and Paul George being the starters on the wing, it leaves a murky role for Sam Hauser.
Sam Hauser still matters — he is Boston’s best catch and shoot guy and Jayson Tatum has always elevated his game. According to StatMuse, in games that Jayson Tatum did not play, Hauser shot 40.3% from three.
In games that Tatum did play, Hauser shot 41.7% from three.
According to databallr, since the start of the 2022-23 season, the Celtics offensive rating with just Tatum and no Hauser on the court is 121.2; when Hauser and Tatum share the court, that number jumps to 123.7.
The Celtics are going to run their ‘Jayson Tatum plus the bench’ lineups this year. Those lineups should include Hauser, whose spacing helps those lineups a lot.
In the Celtics first preseason game, Hauser came off of the bench. He played 21 minutes and had 11 points on 4/6 from the field and 3/5 from three. Boston used him in different ways than they typically do as well.
— #LetsGoCeltics (@gobosceltics) October 12, 2026— #LetsGoCeltics (@gobosceltics) October 12, 2026
Last year was Hauser’s worst 3-point percentage of his career at 39%, still a very good number but not in the 40’s which we have become accustomed to. His shooting is so valuable to this Celtics team. While Walsh, Scheierman and Gonzalez are all good players that could push Hauser out of town eventually, the reason he remains a Celtic is his three-point shot.
His ability to shoot standing still and off of movement is so important to what Boston does. Defenses have to respect him as a shooter because he will burn them if they don’t. For a team that takes as many threes as Boston does, Hauser plays a key role.
However, it does need to be mentioned that Boston’s three young wings do a lot of things that Hauser does not do. They are all better defenders than Hauser is, they all offensive rebound better than Hauser does and both Scheierman and Gonzalez have shown that they can play with the ball in their hands more than Hauser can.
That’s not to say that Hauser is a bad defender — they don’t call it ‘Hauser Island’ for no reason. Or that he can’t dribble at all; it’s just that the younger wings on the roster have proven to be better at it than Sam is.
Hauser is on a very tradable contract. He is owed $35 million over the next 3 years and $10.8 million this year. Boston is currently $10.3 million under the first apron, where they are hard-capped due to the Mitchell Robinson signing. The C’s have a $27.7 million trade exception from the Anfernee Simons trade last February they can use to acquire someone. If they pair Hauser’s money with the exception and some of the draft capital they got for Jaylen Brown, the Celtics can make a difference making trade at the deadline if they so choose.
The Celtics are going to need Sam Hauser this year. His catch and shoot game is too valuable for him not to be a fact on this team. However, with some younger wings on the roster, Hauser’s time in Boston could be coming to an end sooner rather than later.
Even if most of Hauser’s time as a Celtic is done, he will still help the Celtics win basketball games as long as he is in green.
