In Sam Hauser’s fifth yr as a Boston Celtic, solely Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Payton Pritchard have been with the staff longer. He’s been an distinctive complementary piece and performed a key position in Boston’s championship run. Hauser has sometimes discovered methods to develop his recreation, however on this new-look roster, he’s stagnated — and youthful wings have begun to cross him by. It raises a good query: is Hauser’s future in Boston abruptly much less safe?
Sam Hauser doesn’t seem like himself, however traditionally, that’s common.
There has virtually all the time been a month or extended stretch of video games the place Hauser can’t put the ball within the hoop. Final yr, he shot 34% from three in October and November, solely to comply with it with considered one of his signature heaters that shortly pushed his numbers nicely above 40%.
This season, the beginning has regarded comparable on the floor. Hauser once more sits at 34% via the primary two months, however the momentum hasn’t totally materialized. After an encouraging 48% mark over his first 4 video games in December, every thing got here crashing down with an 0-for-9 night time within the loss to Milwaukee.
That recreation was disappointing by itself, but it surely additionally magnified some already uneven play. The expansion Hauser confirmed contained in the arc hasn’t translated both, as he’s simply 8-for-22 on two-point makes an attempt.
At his finest, Hauser is likely one of the league’s premier off-ball shooters and usually stable on the defensive finish. Throughout a droop like this although, his greatest supply of worth disappears, and regular protection isn’t sufficient to offset it, particularly when he doesn’t generate many steals or blocks.
There’s loads of cause to consider the 0/9 recreation was a blip in what may in the end turn into an environment friendly stretch of video games. He has some of the sound resumes for any elite shooter.
The hazard for Sam is that his place within the rotation is much less solidified than ever. Backup wing depth hasn’t been nice for Boston in recent times, but it surely’s at the moment considered one of their fundamental strengths. The liberty Hauser needed to shoot himself again right into a rhythm isn’t fairly as out there when Walsh, Minott and Gonzalez are all able to take extra minutes and choose up the slack.
Of all of the non-Jaylen Brown wings, Hauser maintains a slim lead in minutes per recreation. By way of on courtroom affect, he’s lagging behind.
Hauser’s succesful on-ball protection and well timed rotations permit him to slip right into a supporting position for an already robust defensive unit. Nonetheless, he doesn’t carry a protection in the identical manner his fellow wings can. Most surprisingly, his offensive affect has been the weakest too when you think about the quantity Minott performs up a place as a small ball middle.
With the opposite choices proving to be succesful decision-makers, momentum altering athletes, and shockingly good shooters — it’s tough to say that Hauser has the sting in lots of classes proper now.
There’s an inexpensive likelihood that regression is available in each instructions. Walsh, Minott and Gonzalez possible aren’t ~45% from 3 sort of gamers, simply as Hauser in all probability received’t stick at 34%. If that hole begins to shut, Sam ought to regain a few of his shine.
He’ll all the time have the belief of Joe Mazzulla and the teaching employees, but it surely’s going to take greater than that to hold on to his minutes for now and sooner or later.
There was quite a lot of discuss in the summertime about his security because the staff navigated via wage cuts. With inside growth including strain behind him, it wouldn’t be shocking if his title results in commerce rumors once more when the deadline approaches.
His reference to Jayson Tatum — whereas not at the moment related — isn’t one thing that may be ignored. Hauser has been a staple of Tatum & the bench lineups that had been all the time impactful. In over 2,000 minutes collectively, they’ve an 11.6 internet ranking with Hauser’s spacing and off-ball capturing being an important pairing with Tatum’s success as a creator.
When you think about the worth of that partnership, and the advantage of having one other participant with championship expertise within the locker room, it’s price giving him the grace to work via his regular early season struggles. With that stated, the margin for error is smaller when others in his place group have made actual strides. Tatum coming again to take in 35 minutes additionally has to return from someplace.
The skillset that makes him helpful hasn’t disappeared, but it surely needs to be centered round elite capturing. If he can discover his rhythm, he has the instruments to keep up a significant position. His data of the system, chemistry with the staff, and elite spacing won’t ever get outdated.
If he doesn’t fairly flip the nook, and Boston’s different wing choices proceed their speedy growth, his future past this retooling yr is just not as sure.
Historical past says Sam Hauser’s slumps not often final, so it’s time to see if he can warmth up once more.
