Sam Hauser will return to the Boston Celtics next season, but the sharpshooter’s long-term future with the team remains uncertain.
The Celtics exercised Hauser’s team option worth $2.1 million on Saturday. According to Adam Himmelsbach of the Boston Globe, Boston is expected to begin negotiating a contract extension with the 26-year-old forward once he becomes extension-eligible on July 9. He could earn up to a four-year, $78 million deal.
If the two sides can’t reach an agreement, Hauser will become an unrestricted free agent next summer. Keeping him long-term could be difficult due to the NBA’s new luxury tax rules, so our own Chris Forsberg had salary cap expert Ryan Bernardoni on the latest episode of the Celtics Talk Podcast to discuss the financial implications of signing Hauser to a hefty contract.
🔊 Celtics Talk: Salary cap guru Ryan Bernardoni analyzes the Celtics’ elite team Listen & Subscribe | Watch on YouTube
“If you add in Sam Hauser, who I think will make over $10 million next year … that’s an $82 million commitment for one year to get Sam Hauser in that starting position,” Bernardoni explained. “If Al Horford wants to come back on a minimum salary, wonderful. If he wants a higher amount or if he retires and you want to replace him with someone else – and again, because of the apron, we’re talking about minimums. But when you’re talking about $2.5 million minimums – $2.5 million x 7 – you’re talking about guys making $20 million minimums just to complete the roster. And so that $150 million gets to the high $200 million very quickly, even if you’re signing guys on minimums. When you’re talking about Hauser, you’re talking about $300 million and so on in luxury taxes for one year and then potentially another year.
“So unless an ownership group comes along and says, ‘Look, if we’re paying $5 billion for the team anyway, what difference does it make if we pay $6 billion?’ it’s hard to imagine them going ahead and paying all that. And it would certainly be unprecedented for anyone in the history of the league, not just in terms of pure dollar amounts, but in terms of what’s probably most important, which is the luxury tax as a percentage of the salary cap. … When you’re talking about a $330 million luxury tax, that’s out of proportion to anything that’s ever happened before, which is why you look at that and say, that’s probably not going to happen.”
Also in the episode:
- Looking back at Kemba Walker’s time with the Celtics and the impact he had after announcing his retirement from the NBA.
- Should the market have been better for Luke Kornet and Xavier Tillman?
- Anticipating all possible moves the Celtics will make during the season.
- Why it’s not surprising that Wyc Grousbeck has decided to sell.
- Can the Celtics bring back Rob Williams?
- Understanding how teams fall under the luxury tax.
