The Boston Celtics have spent this summer time signing their championship rotation to contract extensions. Brad Stevens has proved to worth continuity inside his crew, particularly after Boston’s dominant run all through the 2023-24 season.
On Sunday, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that Boston had signed sharpshooting ahead Sam Hauser to a four-year, $45M deal.
Hauser joined Boston as an undrafted rookie in 2020. He has labored himself up from a two-way contract into being a key a part of a championship rotation.
His new cope with the Celtics illustrates his significance to Joe Mazzulla’s offensive system. Boston triggered its crew choice on Hauser’s contract on June 30, so his new deal will not hit the franchise’s cap sheet till subsequent summer time.
On Friday, ESPN’s Bobby Marks warned of the tax penalties Boston would face if it selected to maintain Hauser round long-term.
“By exercising his $2M crew choice this offseason, Hauser could possibly be an unrestricted free agent with out an extension,” Marks wrote. “…As a result of Boston is a repeater tax crew subsequent 12 months and the NBA is ready to implement extra stringent penalties, a brand new contract for Hauser beginning at $8M provides over $60M in tax penalties.”
Final season, Hauser shot 42.4% from the perimeter whereas taking 5.9 makes an attempt per sport. Throughout the playoffs, he shot 38%. He has additionally emerged as a dependable wing defender who can change down a number of positions to supply versatility inside Boston’s defensive construction. Holding Hauser round ensures the Celtics have positional flexibility and elite scoring on the bench.
Boston has cemented itself as a perennial contender for the foreseeable future. It has constructed a dynasty round homegrown expertise and is stumping up the associated fee to maintain the crew intact. If the return on funding is a number of championship runs, then the value of doing enterprise might be value it.
Nevertheless, there’ll undoubtedly be a bright spotlight on the Celtics’ performance within the coming years as they edge dangerously near being billed as the most costly crew of all time.