Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images

Celtics Rumors: Derrick White, Sam Hauser Contract Extensions Are a 'Priority'

Adam Wells

Having recently signed Jrue Holiday to a contract extension, the newly-crowned NBA champion Boston Celtics are working to get new deals done with two other key contributors.

Per Brian Robb of MassLive.com, the Celtics have made it a "priority" to sign Derrick White and Sam Hauser to extensions this offseason.

The Celtics already have a lot of money committed to this roster, and there's a good chance they will add significantly more to that total this summer.

Per ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, Jayson Tatum is expected to a five-year, $315 million extension this summer that would be the richest deal in NBA history.

The Celtics already have $210.2 million in cap allocations for next season on the books. None of these potential extensions will change that figure since Tatum, White and Hauser are already under contract for 2024-25.

White's contract talks could be a huge storyline for Boston. He's going into the final season of his current deal and has far outplayed the four-year, $70 million contract he originally signed with the San Antonio Spurs in December 2020.

Per The Athletic's John Hollinger, White is eligible to sign a four-year, $127 million extension. If that ends up being the deal he signs, it would give the Celtics five players with an average annual salary of at least $30 million in 2025-26. This includes Tatum, who has a $37.1 million player option for the 2025-26 campaign on his current contract.

While that would normally be risky for a team to have that much money invested in a handful of players even before factoring in the depth to fill out the roster, the Celtics have arguably the best starting five in the NBA. Holiday would be the only player in that group over the age of 32 for the 2025-26 season.

White has established himself as arguably the best two-way guard in the NBA during his three seasons with the Celtics. The 29-year-old averaged 15.2 points on a career-high 39.6 percent three-point shooting in 73 starts this season. He's been named to the All-Defensive second team in each of the past two years.

Hauser has a $2.1 million team option for next season. He has established himself as a valuable role player in head coach Joe Mazzulla's rotation over the past three seasons. The Virginia alum averaged a career-high 9.0 points per game on 42.4 percent three-point shooting this season.

   

Read 102 Comments

Download the app for comments Get the B/R app to join the conversation

Install the App
×
Bleacher Report
(120K+)