top of page

2022 Free Agents - Sam Hauser

Summary
After going undrafted in the 2021 draft, Hauser ended up signing a two-way contract with Boston before they converted him to a standard NBA contract after freeing up some roster spots at the trade deadline. Hauser is an outside shooter, as his high level shooting that he dislayed in his final year of college at Virginia continued in the G-League in '21-'22. Hauser was productive in the G-League, scoring over 20 points per game on over 40% shooting from three. He shot threes at a high volume taking over 10 per game. At 6'8", Hauser has good size, which allows him to get his shot off easier.

Hauser doesn't do much else besides shooting, which has kept him from getting NBA minutes so far. He doesn't have much athleticism, and it's unlikely he will ever be a good defender. However, if he can just be passable on the defensive end, and make enough plays attacking hard closeouts that he'll inevitably see if he ever gets real minutes, he could stick around in the NBA. A 5-year college player, Hauser is already 24 years old, which is old for someone coming off his rookie season.
 
Cap Considerations
Hauser has a $1.6 million team option for 2022-2023, and if the celtics decline this option he will be a restricted free agent with a $1.8 million cap hold, $1.9 million Qualifying Offer, and Non-Bird Rights. Using his Non-Bird rights, the Celtics would only be able to offer a starting salary of $1.9 million.

However, if they decline his option it likely means that they would not have interest in re-signing him, as there would be no benefit to doing so versus just picking up the option. Therefore, if they decline his option they most likely will not give him a QO, and thus he would be an unrestricted free agent.

Other teams would then have multiple ways to sign Hauser as even teams without cap space could use any of the Non-Taxpayer MLE, Taxpayer MLE, Room MLE, or Bi-Annual Exception to sign him. If he hits free agency, Hauser would likely only have offers for the minimum, and may not even get fully-guaranteed offers.

Potential Teams: Celtics, Pistons, Hawks, Raptors, Spurs

Predicted Contract: 1-year, $1.6 million (non-guaranteed) with the Celtics

Actual Contract: 3-year, $5.7 million (3rd year team option) with the Celtics

Hauser did better than I expected, as he got a couple guaranteed years. The deal has been reported as approximately $6 million, but his minimum would be $5.7 million. There's a chance he got a couple extra dollars to get to $6 million, but I'm guessing it's for the minimum.

Last updated: 7/13/2022

bottom of page