Sam Hauser and the Celtics agreed to a four-year, $45 million fully guaranteed extension that carries the Boston wing through 2028-29 and keeps the team’s eight-man rotation in place for the 2025-26 season. The deal became the third extension by Brad Stevens and the Celtics’ front office this summer, 11th since Stevens took over as the team’s president and the fifth of those negotiated by Jason Glushon, Hauser, Al Horford, Jrue Holiday, Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart’s agent.
Stevens expressed a desire to keep Hauser long-term last month before he became eligible for a new deal in early July. Boston initially signed him in 2021 undrafted on a two-way contract after Hauser pivoted away from a potential deal with the Miami Heat. He spent most of his rookie season with Maine before joining Boston on a standard contract after the trade deadline on a standard deal for the NBA Finals run. Hauser’s first full season in 2022-23 saw him play solid regular season minutes before failing to break the playoff rotation. He became a champion in 2024, and remained a fixture in the rotation through the Finals — where he shot 47.8% from three.
Hauser would’ve become one of the top role player free agents in next summer’s class when his three-year, $5.7 million contract would’ve expired. The Celtics could’ve declined his $2.1 million team option for 2024-25 earlier this month and made him a restricted free agent to leverage a deal, but it would’ve given him a pay bump starting now against the luxury tax and risked him receiving a significant offer sheet on the open market Boston would’ve needed to match. In the end, Hauser and the Celtics shared an incentive to get a deal done at $11.3 million average annual value (6% of the cap).
The Celtics only have one backup wing in Hauser alongside Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum who appears prepared for regular NBA minutes. Jordan Walsh and Baylor Scheierman both struggled offensively for much of Summer League and need to see the same defensive strides that carried Hauser to the NBA. Signing Hauser, from a luxury tax perspective, still seemed risky. Boston’s projected salary and luxury tax total in 2025-26 surpassed an unprecedented $500 million with the Hauser contract. By keeping Hauser, the Celtics give themselves the greatest number of options in navigating that financial situation when it arrives.
Losing Hauser outright would’ve dealt a blow to Boston’s depth despite Payton Pritchard remaining under contract and Boston having multiple wing prospects and its own first-round pick next summer. Hauser could’ve walked for nothing, and if the Celtics pulled off a sign-and-trade, they could’ve only received second-rounders at best as a second apron team. Now, the straightest path forward for Boston will likely become Horford returning on a minimum contract for 2026, if he plays, and the new Celtics’ ownership group absorbing the historic salary commitment for one season before Kristaps Porziņģis‘ contract expires the following offseason.
It’s possible Holiday’s impact remains desirable to contending trade partners at 20% of the cap entering his age-36 season in 2026-27. There’s no doubt that the Hauser deal makes for a much larger tax hit in those years — but if he keeps hitting threes, his extension won’t prove the most prohibitive in the future. He’s now a career 42.2% from deep.
Stevens, speaking to reporters in Las Vegas last week, said his job doesn’t change for now as ownership change looms. Another extension perhaps a good sign that the Celtics will remain committed to spending what’s necessary to win into a new era.
“How does it affect us? It doesn’t really right now,” Stevens said. “We’re just head down, doing what we think is best for the now of the Celtics and the future of the Celtics. We’re lucky we have a good team.”
