Sam Hauser has high praise for the “smart” Celtics rookie

It's easy to see why Baylor Scheierman became interested in Sam Hauser as a mentor after he was drafted 30th overall by the Boston Celtics in late June.

The two have similar skills and are both known for their outside shooting prowess. So far, of course, Scheierman has only shown that he is capable of doing this at the college level.

Scheierman hopes to use his outstanding 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 land a role with the Celtics team. Hauser is definitely impressed with what the 1.90 meter tall rookie has to offer on the field.

“He’s a good shooter, but he’s much more than just a shooter,” Hauser said at Celtics Media Day earlier this week. “He has a really good feel for the game. He’s pretty skilled.”

Scheierman following Hauser's path would be great news for the Celtics. As an undrafted free agent, Hauser had an even more difficult transition to the NBA. He spent most of his rookie season in Maine in the G League before developing into a key sharpshooter on a championship team. Hauser shot 42.4% from distance last season.

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

The two could now provide 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 whatever opportunities he gets on the floor or when he gets opportunities at Maine, whatever that is for him may be,” said Hauser. “I will definitely listen to him if he has questions or needs help or anything like that. But he’s a really good player and he has a good feel for things and I think he has a good future in this league.”