The Celtics are a very expensive team after extending Sam Hauser
BOSTON -- The Celtics locked up another key member of their championship team on Sunday, reportedly signing sharpshooter Sam Hauser to a four-year, $45 million extension. Boston's championship core is intact for the foreseeable future, but that also means that the team is in for an extremely expensive luxury penalty.
With Hauser now locked in for the next five seasons -- he'll make $2 million next season before his extension begins in the 2025-26 season -- seven of Boston's top eight players are signed through the next two seasons. The lone exception is 38-year-old Al Horford, who is only signed through next season.
Hauser's extension is the third one given out by Brad Stevens this summer, after he gave Jayson Tatum the richest deal in NBA history (a five-year, $315 million supermax) and signed Derrick White to a four-year, $125 million extension. Stevens and the Celtics also re-signed three big men this summer, handing out a one-year, $2.8 million deal to Luke Kornet, a two-year, $4.7 million contract to Xavier Tillman, and a three-year, $7.1 million pact to Neemias Queta.
Not to be forgotten is the four-year, $134 million extension that Jrue Holiday signed in the spring. Add all of that to Jaylen Brown's five-year, $305 million supermax that begins this upcoming season, Kristaps Porzingis starting his two-year, $60 million extension, and Payton Pritchard's four-year, $30 million contract, and the Boston Celtics are now one of the most expensive teams in NBA history.
By the time the 2025-26 season rolls around, the Celtics' payroll will be hovering around $230 million. Their luxury tax penalty is projected to be even higher, meaning the Celtics will be paying nearly $500 million for that season.
The Boston Celtics and Phoenix Suns both currently project to have luxury tax penalties higher than their payrolls in 2025-26.
— Yossi Gozlan (@YossiGozlan) July 21, 2024
If the Celtics want to save money, it would need to be via trade. The Suns could more easily save over $100 million by cutting Josh Okogie and declining… pic.twitter.com/F2f6HKe0dN
Let's hope that whoever buys the team has some deep, deep pockets. In being a second apron team for the second straight year, the Celtics also won't be able to trade away their first-round picks in 2032 or 2033.
At least the salary cap and the apron levels should rise in the coming years, so things could improve slightly from a numbers (and tax penalty) standpoint for Boston. And in the short term, the Hauser deal means that the Celtics are pretty much running back the same roster that just won an NBA Championship for the next two seasons, putting the team in a great spot to potentially repeat or add another banner in the coming years.
Brad Stevens has been committed to keeping this championship core together, no matter the future costs. And if the Celtics ownership is OK with paying some massive tax bills, it should keep the team in contention for years to come.