As of late July, it appears that the starting power forward spot for Boston is a competition between Sam Hauser and Georges Niang. Oh, how the mighty have fallen. This of course is due to the Achilles injury suffered by star Jayson Tatum back in May. Tatum is out for all of 2025-26, leaving a massive void at the power forward spot. And the situation could be made worse with the retirement of veteran Al Horford. Over four seasons, Hauser averaged 18.5 minutes per game and has only started in 40 out of 256 NBA game appearances (16%). Niang has spent an even a larger chunk of his nine-year NBA career on the pine, having averaged 17.5 minutes per contest with 32 starts in 544 appearances (6%). Considering Hauser's experience within Coach Joe Mazzulla's system, Hauser probably has the edge. But at 6-foot-8 and a career average of only 2.9 rebounds per game, Hauser is not a prototypical power forward. Over his career, the bulk of Hauser's minutes have come at the wing. Regardless, considering the dearth of "big" options on the Boston roster, Hauser should see an improvement over the 22 minutes per game he's averaged over the past two seasons. More minutes should produce slight uptick in most counting categories. In what might be a "bridge season" for the Celtics, 2025-26 could be the brightest opportunity in the 27-year-old's career.
