Team: Boston Celtics · Forward · Age 28 · Base role: 19-minute movement-shooting specialist
Projection card
| GP | MPG | 3PM | PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | FG% | FT% | TO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 70 | 19.0 | 2.0 | 7.3 | 3.0 | 1.1 | 0.5 | 0.2 | .430 | .870 | 0.5 |
Correction 2026-07-18: minutes raised from 17.0 to 19.0. A 7.8-minute cut on a player who started 49 of 78 games at 24.8 MPG was too aggressive to leave unexplained, and the prose now names the specific recipient of those minutes rather than gesturing at "young-wing competition." The raise is partial, not a restoration to 24.8, for the reason given below.
Nine-category: threes/FT streamer with unusually low turnovers; not enough supporting production for a standard-roster base hold. Points: generally waiver-level. Dynasty: stable specialist value but little upside at age 28, especially with Gonzalez, Scheierman and Cenac on development timelines.
Why the line looks like this
Hauser played 78 games and started 49 in 2025-26, averaging 9.2 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 24.8 minutes. His 39.3% three-point mark was his first sub-40% season since high school, according to CelticsBlog's exit review, but he made 40% over the final 45 games while averaging 10.5 points. The projection therefore treats him as a 40%-caliber shooter rather than extrapolating the slow start.
The minutes fall because 2025-26's starts were injury-created, and the named recipient is specific: Jayson Tatum played 16 games last season and projects to 72, which alone reclaims roughly 34 minutes per night of forward time that Hauser, Walsh and Scheierman split. Paul George adds 27 more. Jaylen Brown's departure does not offset that, because George occupies the same wing slot Brown did — the vacancy Brown leaves is creation, and it is guard-side. That is why Hauser lands at 19 rather than back at 24.8. He can still win nights when spacing is paramount; he can also be the fourth wing in other matchups.
Sources: Basketball Reference 2025-26 Celtics, CelticsBlog 2025-26 exit review.
Category shape
- Wins: threes, low turnovers, positive FT% when he reaches the line.
- Some help: acceptable rebound rate for a shooter and non-destructive field percentage.
- Costs: light assists, steals and blocks; scoring disappears when shot volume falls.
- Build fit: threes streamer who does not disturb efficiency or turnovers, rather than a foundational specialist.
Floor, base, ceiling
- Floor: 12-14 minutes behind the younger wings; fewer than 1.5 threes and no standard-league relevance.
- Base: 19 minutes and 2.0 threes with clean percentages and little else.
- Ceiling: starts 30-plus games because of injuries and returns near 2025-26's 25-minute line: 9-10 points, 2.5 threes and 4 rebounds, useful top-140 value.
Risk and confidence
| Component | Confidence | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Roster | High | Contracted specialist with a proven scheme fit |
| Minutes | Medium-low | Five wings compete for a finite bench role |
| Rates | High | Long shooting sample and stable low-turnover profile |
| Availability | High | Played 78 games in 2025-26 |
The reversal signal is simple: if Hauser is consistently the first wing off the bench in preseason, 21-23 minutes are more likely. If Gonzalez and Scheierman both precede him, he belongs on waivers outside deep leagues.
Career record
Pre-NBA: Three seasons at Marquette (Big East) — 8.8 points as a freshman, 14.1 as a sophomore, then 14.9 points and 7.2 rebounds as a junior for second-team All-Big East. Transferred to Virginia (ACC), sat 2019-20 under transfer rules, and as a senior in 2020-21 averaged 16.0 points, 6.8 rebounds and 1.8 assists on roughly 50/42/90 shooting, finishing fractionally short of a 50-40-90 season. Draft: undrafted (2021); signed a two-way deal with Boston and spent 2021-22 splitting time with the Maine Celtics.
| Season | Age | Team | GP | MPG | PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | 3PM | FG% | FT% | TO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021-22 | 24 | BOS | 26 | 6.1 | 2.5 | 1.1 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.7 | .460 | — | 0.3 |
| 2022-23 | 25 | BOS | 80 | 16.1 | 6.4 | 2.6 | 0.9 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 1.8 | .455 | .706 | 0.4 |
| 2023-24 | 26 | BOS | 79 | 22.0 | 9.0 | 3.5 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 2.5 | .446 | .895 | 0.4 |
| 2024-25 | 27 | BOS | 71 | 21.7 | 8.5 | 3.2 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 2.3 | .451 | 1.000 | 0.3 |
| 2025-26 | 28 | BOS | 78 | 24.8 | 9.2 | 3.8 | 1.5 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 2.5 | .419 | .850 | 0.4 |
| Career | 334 | 20.0 | 7.8 | 3.1 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 2.2 | .442 | .851 | 0.4 |
The 2024-25 free throw mark is not a typo: he attempted roughly 14 and made all of them. Volume that low makes the percentage close to meaningless for category purposes.
Durability: 26 games as a two-way rookie, then 80, 79, 71 and 78. Four straight seasons above 70 games with no season-ending injury on record; the causes of the 2024-25 absences are not verified here. He is one of the more available players on this roster.
Trajectory: Five seasons, one skill, executed at a high level — 41.2% from three on 5.2 attempts per game for his career, with a career turnover rate under half a giveaway per night. The 2025-26 dip to 39.3% came with a career-high 6.5 attempts and coincided with Tatum's absence forcing him into shots he does not normally take, which argues for regression back toward 41% rather than decline. He is competing for the sixth-man wing role in 2026-27 behind a healthy Tatum and Paul George; he becomes fantasy-relevant again only if one of them misses extended time, which would push him back to the 25-minute, 2.5-three line he just posted.
Career sources: ESPN career stats · StatMuse 2024-25 season averages · Wikipedia
Open questions
- Is Hauser still a default regular-season rotation player, or now a matchup shooter?
- Does Paul George's maintenance create enough starts to preserve a 20-minute seasonal average?
- Can he add even a modest steal rate without sacrificing the low-foul defensive role Boston values?