Sam Hauser may have spent the offseason as the Celtics’ easiest player to overlook, but two games into the season, he’s looking like the same trusted bench piece Boston keeps leaning on.
That wasn’t exactly the vibe around him a few months ago. Hauser’s 2023-24 finish was rough, especially in the playoff loss against the 76ers, and Joe Mazzulla’s reluctance to go deeper into the bench only made the situation feel louder. With Jordan Walsh, Baylor Scheierman, and Hugo Gonzalez waiting for their chances, it seemed like Hauser’s grip on a rotation spot was slipping.
For a while, he looked like a natural trade candidate. His contract was movable, the Celtics had a stack of young wings, and his name kept popping up in trade chatter.
Then the Jaylen Brown trade changed the picture. Boston filled out the roster while staying a hair under the luxury tax, the urgency to move Hauser faded, and by the time the season got closer, it was clear he was staying put.
Not only that, he was going to matter.
Walsh has gotten the nominal starting nod in both games so far, but Hauser has been the bench wing Mazzulla seems to trust most. That showed up clearly in Friday night’s win over the Knicks, when Mazzulla tightened the rotation and gave Hugo just one 3-minute stint while Scheierman played only 11 minutes.
Hauser, meanwhile, logged 22 minutes - as many as anyone on the team outside of Jayson Tatum, Paul George, Derrick White, and Payton Pritchard. He finished with 6 points, 2 rebounds, and 2 assists, hit 2 of 5 from three, and didn’t commit a turnover. He also finished tied for the team lead with a +8 on/off rating.
That’s the part that keeps winning Mazzulla over. Hauser doesn’t have the flash of some of the younger wings, but he gives Boston exactly what it wants: spacing, gravity, and a player who stays within himself.
As Walsh, Gonzalez, and Scheierman keep developing, that picture could change. But right now, in the small sample we’ve got, the story looks familiar.
The Celtics still seem to prefer Sam Hauser as their bench wing.
In Other News...
Jordan Walsh Is Giving The Celtics A New Lineup Dilemma
Jordan Walsh has suddenly become part of the Celtics starting conversation, and it has little to do with scoring. In recent games, Joe Mazzulla has leaned on Walsh for his defense, using him in the opening group because he can take on difficult perimeter assignments and stay connected on that end of the floor. For a team that values versatility and edge, that kind of trust matters, especially when the coaching staff is looking for reliable minutes against top opponents.
The catch is that Walshs offensive game is still a work in progress, which is why his long-term fit remains a live question. Boston likes what he brings defensively, and the early returns with him in the starting mix have been encouraging, but the Celtics still have to figure out how much room there is for a player whose value is built more on stopping others than creating for himself. That makes Walsh both useful right now and a little tricky to project going forward. [Read more 🡒]
Neemias Queta May Be Giving The Celtics A New Offensive Option
Neemias Queta gave the Celtics a useful jolt off the bench against the Knicks, finishing with 15 points and adding a little extra intrigue to his role in the process. Boston has long valued what he can bring around the rim, but any sign that he can stretch his game beyond that area only broadens the options available to a roster that is always looking for more ways to bend defenses.
The appeal is not just in the one game, but in the possibility that Queta's outside touch can become something the Celtics can actually trust. If that part of his game keeps developing, it would give Boston another wrinkle in lineups that already ask centers to do plenty, and it could make him more than just a situational big in the rotation. [Read more 🡒]
Celtics May Already Be Seeing Why They Passed On Giannis
The Heats decision to swing big for Giannis Antetokounmpo was supposed to change the balance of the Eastern Conference, but early results have only sharpened the debate around how much a superstar trade can alter a roster. Miami is already dealing with three losses to open the season, and the early unease has centered less on Giannis himself than on what the deal took away, with the move forcing the kind of trade-off that can leave a team top-heavy and thin everywhere else.
For the Celtics, it is a reminder of why they were unwilling to fully meet Milwaukees asking price when Antetokounmpo became available. Boston has long valued roster depth as much as star power, and this kind of story plays directly into that philosophy, especially when title teams usually need more than one great player to survive the long season. The question now is whether Miami can find enough balance around its new centerpiece before those early concerns become a season-long problem. [Read more 🡒]