Hauser deal continues Stevens' quest to extend Celtics' title window

Move over, Scott Foster. The real “Extender” resides in Boston.

After agreeing to a four-year, $45 million contract extension with Sam Hauser, Boston Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens has now inked seven contract extensions in excess of $1 billion in little more than one year’s time.

Add in Al Horford’s extension in late 2022, and every member of Boston’s top eight from the 2023-24 title team has received an extension from Stevens over the past 20 months.

Since elevating to the GM position, Stevens has made it a priority to reward extension-eligible players. But by inking team-friendly deals in many instances, the Celtics have enhanced their ability to keep as much talent present as possible.

In an effort to limit distractions, Stevens has repeatedly extended players on deals of all shapes and sizes.

Sure, extensions for the All-Star tandem of Jayson Tatum (five years, $314 million) and Jaylen Brown (five years, $296 million) were no-brainers when they reached extension eligibility. But Stevens also moved quickly to lock up the likes of Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday after their acquisitions.

Hauser and Derrick White joined Tatum in the extension club this offseason, ensuring the Celtics will have the core of this team together for as long as it’s financially feasible.

Tough decisions on personnel loom for Stevens — and a potential new owner — after the 2024-25 season. Still, Stevens has given his title core the sort of security that ensures this team will be singularly focused on chasing back-to-back crowns in the upcoming season.

A look at Stevens’ spending on extensions over the last 380 days:

That’s $1 billion spent on seven players in just over a year’s span.

Add in Al Horford’s 2022 extension at two years, $19.5 million, and that’s a total of 30 years of contracts (assuming option years are triggered) and $1.02 billion in total spend on contracts since 2022.

You can further add previous deals for Josh Richardson (one year, $12 million), Marcus Smart (four years, $77 million), and Robert Williams III (four years, $54 million) to bring Stevens to a total of 11 deals, 39 years, and $1.16 billion in money.

Those previous extensions show how the team has been able to pivot off former core members and turned them into the important pieces of this title team. Richardson was a key piece in landing White, Smart helped deliver Porzingis, and Williams III was a key asset in the Holiday deal.

A restrictive new collective bargaining agreement will complicate Stevens’ ability to make similar moves, but the Celtics will have avenues -- painful as they may be -- to pivot off that money if necessary to cut costs.

For now, the focus is clear: Chase another title and worry about the money later.

In a league where teams are scrambling to ensure they don’t get crushed by a new CBA tidal wave, the Celtics are locked on the immediate future and will worry about the longer-term ramifications later.

The Celtics are set to bring back 13 of the 15 members of last year’s title team, having re-signed other key role players like Luke Kornet and Xavier Tillman to minimum-salary deals. The only players not slated to return are Oshae Brissett and Svi Mykhailiuk, while Baylor Scheierman became the first first-round pick of Stevens’ tenure in June.

The Celtics currently stand at 14 players under contract for next season and tax constraints should encourage the team to keep that 15th spot open for as long as possible.

Can the Celtics possibly carry this same top 10 into future seasons? That might depend on how deep-pocketed the next owner is.

With Hauser’s extension, Boston projects at a payroll of $225 million for the 2024-25 season, and that’s before potential deals to bring back Horford and Kornet. Boston would be staring at a tax bill well north of $200 million, pushing the total roster spend close to a half billion dollars.

Even with a wealthy new owner, that might be unsustainable. The team might have to make tough decisions to move on from core pieces of the team.

But that appears to be a worry for a future date. The Celtics, while still celebrating Banner 18, seem ready to chase Banner 19.

Maybe changes are inevitable after next year. But Stevens is doing everything he can to, ahem, extend the window.