Sam Hauser Dishes Out High Praise To ‘Crafty’ Celtics Rookie

It's easy to see why Baylor Scheierman gravitated toward Sam Hauser as a mentor after getting drafted 30th overall by the Boston Celtics in late June.

The two have similar skill sets, both known for their outside shooting prowess. Scheierman, of course, has only shown he can do that at the college level thus far.

Scheierman is hoping to use his stellar shooting -- he shot 39% from 3-point range in his five-year college career between South Dakota State and Creighton -- and under-the-radar skills to carve out a role on a loaded Celtics team. Hauser certainly is impressed by what the 6-foot-6 rookie has to offer on the court.

"He's a good shooter, but he's a lot more than a shooter," Hauser said at Celtics media day earlier this week. "He's got a really good feel for the game. He's pretty crafty."

Scheierman following Hauser's path would be great news for the Celtics. Hauser had an even tougher climb to the NBA as an undrafted free agent. He spent the majority of his rookie campaign up in Maine in the G League before developing into a key sharpshooting piece on a championship team. Hauser shot 42.4% from beyond the arc last season.

There was some speculation that the Celtics drafted Scheierman to replace Hauser, but that thought got nullified when Boston handed Hauser a four-year, $45 million contract extension this offseason.

The two could now be shooting threats off the bench for the Celtics for the foreseeable future with Hauser more than willing to share trade secrets with Scheierman.

"The best thing I can do is just try to help him in this first year and help him with any opportunities he gets on the floor or if he gets opportunities in Maine, whatever that may be for him," Hauser said. "Definitely going to have an open ear to him whenever he has questions or needs help or anything like that. But he's a really good player and he's got a good feel for things and I think he has a good future in this league."