Yeah I don’t get the awful in G2 takes at all. What are people watching? He had a very good floor game which is why Joe kept him on the floor over 20 minutes.
Doogie does defense, the Sam Hauser thread
- Thread starter chilidawg
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Yea. .417 was after G1
0-7 over the last 2 games has brought him down to 35%
Years ago I liked to watch that Sports Science show where they would hone in on something to show how it really works or how significant an athletic feat it is and what have you. Kind of a sports Mythbusters.
Anywho, they had an episode to see how fast you can actually catch and shoot a basketball and if it were possible to do it under the league-determined .3 seconds. Jason Kapono was the sniper they brought in and he did it but of course under no pressure in an empty gym. That shot pretty much mimicked the Sports Science setting, minus a few microticks of the clock. Very impressive.
...but enough about guys not named Sam Hauser. Our boy took 2 deep shots last night and sank 'em both, and boy did he need them. He was on fire vs Miami (14/29!), 3/9 in the Cleveland series, but only 1/14 vs Indy (yikes). Seemed to have regular service resumed. And even with that horrid Indy series, he's still hitting 36% from 3 in the playoffs as a whole, 18/50.
MPG down from 22 in the regular season to 14.7' in the playoffs, but that's still "holding up well" in the eyes of the coaches.
MPG down from 22 in the regular season to 14.7' in the playoffs, but that's still "holding up well" in the eyes of the coaches.
1 of 14 is indeed yikes. Though I felt like the issue was the Pacers played so fast Hauser's game speed never caught up.
Dallas doesn't do that pace, thankfully!
Dallas doesn't do that pace, thankfully!
I remember that call. "You've got to practice that" seemed like about the most lame thing Redick said all night.
He seems a bit sped up on offense. His gravity is still helping somewhat, and his defense isn't killing us/being exploited. Would be nice to see him have one of those classic 6-8 games though, and soon. Maybe he'll see the rim better on the road.
I took Redick’s and Sam’s quotes to be referencing the quick release 3, not shooting in general. But maybe I misunderstood both.
This is shaping up well: Hauser provides spacing, holds up on D, and the team has success.
However, he misses a ton of 3s, doesn't get hype (the perception of his play is unfairly negative rn) and thus doesn't feel as confident about his market in 2025, leading him to lock in a discounted extension this summer.
However, he misses a ton of 3s, doesn't get hype (the perception of his play is unfairly negative rn) and thus doesn't feel as confident about his market in 2025, leading him to lock in a discounted extension this summer.
Hauser was 3-3 from 3 in 9 minutes in the 1st quarter, huge baskets while Boston was weather Dallas' early energy.
View: https://twitter.com/SeanGrandePBP/status/1801139433162346599
View: https://twitter.com/SeanGrandePBP/status/1801139433162346599
I’m bullish for what this does for his confidence over the offseason. Let’s hope they can extend him at compelling terms. Super impressed with how much better his defense has gotten over the last two years.
In addition to the 3Ps, Hauser played some very good defense. Tomek with clips of both below.
View: https://twitter.com/Timi_093/status/1801093795695493599
View: https://twitter.com/Timi_093/status/1801093795695493599
I said to my son that he looked like a borderline all-defensive team guy in certain sequences last night. Not saying that's what he is, of course, but point is that while we're all accustomed to him being 'solid' at this point, those were some of the best sequences I've ever seen from him on D.
Agree, I was stunned that Joe ran PP and 3 guards while Jaylen briefly sat during the Dallas run.
Yes, I said the same thing all game to @scottyno .. Hauser was a legit two way problem last night.
8:59 - Hauser so good
9:44 - Hauser already did (show up as a compliment to Tatum in the first half)
10:12 - Hauser needs to play he's good
10:15 - If you had Hauser clamping Luka OMG jb (that was just me continuing to awe in JB just slicing through half the team mid message about Hauser)
10:31 - Hauser needs to play over pp there he's feeling it
Really needed someone on the bench to step up and Sam did that indeed. Pay that man!
Hollinger said in his article today that he's hearing Hauser is likely to sign an extension. Not a huge shock--not sure on the number though.
Hauser showed this postseason that he can stay on the floor and keep it spaced against any team, in the biggest moments. He stayed in the Game 5 rotation when Pritchard got excised. He'd get Strus money in UFA, I think.
One thing Boston can do is decline his option this year to let him start earning more sooner. That, combined with security in an extension, might get him in a good deal below what Strus got.
Hauser showed this postseason that he can stay on the floor and keep it spaced against any team, in the biggest moments. He stayed in the Game 5 rotation when Pritchard got excised. He'd get Strus money in UFA, I think.
One thing Boston can do is decline his option this year to let him start earning more sooner. That, combined with security in an extension, might get him in a good deal below what Strus got.
Yeah, the 2M club option for this year is a ton of leverage for the Cs. Using that leverage to rip up the option and lock in 4 years of a solid, below market deal seems like a no brainer for both sides.
In one of the All In videos, Wyc said he basically told Brad that he didn't want him to run it back after the loss to the Heat, and to lay out options for how they'd change things. I have to imagine he's going to Brad with the opposite demand this offseason. Do whatever we can to run this back for as long as we can given the new apron rules.
An ode to Slam Hauser. Too bad he didn't have any highlight reel dunks during the Finals.
View: https://youtu.be/HZa8qILc6WM?si=93g1y2QAfZ5u-FwR
View: https://youtu.be/HZa8qILc6WM?si=93g1y2QAfZ5u-FwR
1st in both the regular season (+13.4) and in the playoffs (+13.0) in on court +/- per 100 possessions, among qualified players. Either alone would sound like a fluke, but put them together and it has to mean something. I don't think Boston can give him the contract that he truly deserves, but man has he been special.
We're going to see plenty of NBA copycats going 5-wide next season (not necessarily playing small)
IMO Hauser is a key piece to the Celtics' biggest rotational adjustment.
As Tatum continues to put more muscle on his frame, having JT play the 5 with JB/DW/Jrue +Hauser should happen a lot more next season (that rotation played 18 regular season minutes last year).
Also I'm leaning toward Xavier Tillman over Luke (who I like) since I could see X as a solid Joker/Embiid defender
Looks like the Celtics picked up his option. There was some speculation that they might not, connected to a prenegotiated deal to extend him for next year beyond. Since that didn’t happen, seems more likely he is gone after next season. But, of course we will see.
Does that somehow preclude them tearing up the last year and doing a new contract?
I don’t think the odds of extending have dropped too much, but I’m not too optimistic about it. Elite shooters tend to get overpaid. I don’t think the Celtics would be willing to extend him for more than like a full MLE level and maybe not even that whereas I think that’s pretty much his floor as a FA with a real shot at someone overpaying for him and him getting $20+ million a year. (Strus isn’t as good a player but is similar and cap-adjusted his deal would be over 4/70 if signed next year.)
The good news is we just drafted a player that can hopefully be ready to step into his role without too big a drop off. If this is his last season in Boston, I’ll be happy for him when he gets paid.
this is fair and 100% agree Hauser > Strus (overrated shooter/player in my book)
I'm still optimistic that they extend Sam on a team-friendly 2+1
I believe there were potentially some luxury tax savings / smoothing if the Celtics were to not pick up the option and instead extend him. It would also give Hauser more money earlier, as well as give him some additional security. All of that requires coming to an agreement on what Hauser should be getting, which obviously didn’t happen. Absolutely they will still negotiate again after July 9 and they absolutely could still come to an agreement. I’m just saying it is a little bit less likely that they find a middle ground based on this development. In other words, if they were already on the same page, not picking up the option seems like it would have been a win win for both sides. That didn’t happen, which makes me think they were not on the same page (but of course could still be close to the same page)
If KP is going to be fragile longterm, I'd rather have Hauser and cheaper centers. Sounds crazy, but I'm starting to feel meh about the KP salary slot. Not needed for the regular season, maybe undependable in the postseason.
Definitely true that elite shooters get overpaid, but if you get a discount for extending a year early, it still might end up in a reasonable range.
Definitely true that elite shooters get overpaid, but if you get a discount for extending a year early, it still might end up in a reasonable range.
But doesn't that preclude them from starting a new contract beginning with 24-25, lower AAV with him getting money upfront. I think they could have extended his current contract (with new, bigger years), or declined the option and started a new contract, but I don't think they can pick up the option and then void the contract and sign a new one. Maybe they can, but I didn't think so. Contracts can only be renegotiated if they're at least 4 years long and it's been 3 years since signing, neither of which is the case for Sam.
Picking up the option saves cap this year but increases the chances he's elsewhere next year Vs declining the option and making him an RFA
Right, but that seemed too risky to me. I think they want to be sure he’s back this year no matter what.
As far as future negotiations on an extension, I don’t know how it works as far as potentially ripping up the current option or if it has to be tacked on.
I guess it would be nice to have the choice to bump his salary this year in exchange for lowering it down the road, but maybe they can’t do that anymore.
I don't think they would have declined the option unless they had a hand-shake agreement on a new deal. That didn't happen. Maybe the luxury tax savings / smoothing wasn't that big a deal, so maybe there wasn't that much of an incentive to get it done on teh Celtics' side. The biggest risk right now is for Hauser, because let's face it - he's going into next season on a ridiculously cheap deal and if something happens to him, he's screwed.
If they keep their stars, Hauser is one of those guys the Celts can't afford to pay if they want their tax number to be at all reasonable. This is what the Warriors have dealt with for years -- you sign affordable bench guys and they either perform poorly and aren't worth keeping or perform well and get too expensive to keep. The glaring one for the Warriors recently was Donte DiVincenzo. They would've looked a lot different last year with him on the team, but the amount of tax they would've had to pay on a contract equal to what the Knicks paid him made it impossible.
The biggest risk is for Hauser because his contract is more important to him than it is to Boston, but he's just entering his prime, has been incredibly consistent (maintaining a strong 3p% while increasing his attempts), durable (5 total games missed in the last two seasons), and just had a very impressive playoff run in which he more than held his own on defense despite arguably the best 1v1 scorer in the league targeting him. He's the kind of guy that should be betting on himself, which is unfortunate for Boston given how expensive the rest of the roster already is.
Picking up his option likely means that Hauser turned down a team friendly extension. This isn't a surprise, nor is it evidence that he won't sign an extension at some point in the future, but it does make him less likely to accept a truly below market deal at any point, which means he's more than likely gone. Someone will absolutely overpay him, which is what happens when you can play regular rotation minutes through the playoffs while being first in both the regular season and in the playoffs in +/-.
Agree with this. If you watch how the Warriors were able to build around Curry, Green and Thompson - and I feel like they did a good job maximizing their window - Myers et al were pretty bloodless with role players including even Iguodala. Writ large, their philosophy was pretty clearly to keep their core intact even if it meant letting key rotational pieces walk.
Hauser is a very useful NBA piece and can probably get not only more cash but more run elsewhere.