NBA Notebook: Sam Hauser and Luke Kornet are Maine Celtics success stories

PORTLAND, MAINE — The Maine Celtics hang banners featuring players over the years who received NBA opportunities. Last season, they stitched as many names as you'd imagine short of winning a championship. Chris Clemons. Ryan Arcidiacono. Theo Pinson. As players across the pros fell out of the lineup with COVID one year ago, NBA teams made a run on Jarell Christian's Maine roster. Only two-way players Sam Hauser and Brodric Thomas weren't available. 

"It was crazy because we were getting ready for the (G-League) Showcase," Pinson told Boston Sports Journal last month. "We were about to leave for the Showcase, and we're looking forward to that to go win it, get some extra money and next thing you know, everybody got called up, we didn't see each other again after that happened. So it was crazy, but it was good to see everybody succeed." 

Pinson signed with the Dallas last December and has played there since, but spent 12 games with a team that formed a synergy with the professional Boston Celtics in the most difficult season to do so. Luke Kornet nearly got away, too, as the Cavaliers and Bucks added him on emergency contracts. Hauser and Kornet got promoted in February and spent most of the NBA Finals run on the bench. 

Both players became rotation fixtures once Danilo Gallinari and Robert Williams III underwent significant surgeries late in the offseason with most of free agency finished. Both started in Maine one year ago, playing a style that prepared them for the roles they're in now. 

Maine wanted to run, forcing 7-2 Kornet to play a full-court game and become a playmaker. They scored 100 points in all but two games through a 9-1 start. Hauser and Kornet formed a connection with the big man changing his game from pick-and-pop to creating out of the high post and finishing rolls. Hauser, who thrived at Marquette and Virginia as a shooter, needed to become an active cutter and finisher in the lane to score more consistently. 

"It's something that we started last season," Christian, now Maine's GM and a Celtics player development coach, told BSJ this week. "(Kornet) was just really good at just being at the top of the key and playing in delay action, us throwing the ball back to him and just playing split game with either side, and he's a really good skilled passer, shooter and he's just got really good balance, so once he gets the ball in the pocket, he can understand which plays he needs to be making on the weak side and he's got length where he can finish at the rim. So kudos to him for being a guy that's as skilled as he is at 7-2." 

Kornet averaged 11.9 points, 7.6 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game on 50.6% shooting in 10 games leading up to the Showcase Cup, playing a different style than the one he flashed after arriving on the Celtics at the 2021 trade deadline. Boston didn't have room for him on the 2021-22 roster, so Kornet re-signed for training camp and went to Maine on a G-League contract after. That allowed the Cavaliers to pick him up when seven of their players, including Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley, entered COVID protocol. Kornet played in Maine on Dec. 17 and debuted for Cleveland at Boston on Dec. 22. He joined the Bucks for five games after, playing out the final three minutes of their playoff rematch against the Nets in Brooklyn before returning to Maine. 

Hauser didn't bounce around the league, allowing him to play 23 G-League games and work on his defense, one of the biggest reasons he didn't get drafted, by playing regularly. He focused on staying with plays where opponents attacked him on straight-line drives by utilizing his length to contest the shot. The coaching staff focused on cutting out the plays where he opens up his hips and allowed those driving lanes and playing positionally sound defense. Ime Udoka praised his defensive growth by April. On offense, Hauser shot 41.7% on 217 Maine three-point attempts, averaging 20.2 PPG in the regular season. 

"The thing Ioved about Sam was just that he could play without the ball in his hands," Christian said. "He's a great cutter, he's a great screener and he just does so many things well from a skills standpoint, that he can play alongside the superstars, and that's the biggest thing with him. He's a willing a screener, not a lot of guys who are shooters are willing to move around and set screens to get their teammates open like he does. Another thing that he does, is he moves the ball. He doesn't have a quick shot, he makes a lot of 0.5 (second) decisions where he's getting off of it and coming back off of a DHO. So he's just a really good guy playing off the ball, playing alongside superstars." 

Playing roles that projected to the ones they'd earn in Boston allowed Kornet and Hauser to change their games from ones that wouldn't have allowed them to get in the mix with the Celtics one year ago, to making them early season success stories. Kornet emerged as the Celtics' backup big after signing a long-term deal with the team earlier this year after trade deadline activity left multiple open roster spots. Hauser did the same, and eventually started garnering hype within the organization through his first full offseason. Boston let its large Evan Fournier trade exception expire in hopes Hauser could contribute. Both players joined Tatum, Grant Williams and Malcolm Brogdon on the most dominant second unit in the league to start the season. They've outscored opponents by 5.6 points per 100 possessions in 42 minutes together. 

Through 25 games, Kornet is shooting 70.6% from the field, the highest since he entered the league in 2017-18 by far, along with 9.2 rebounds and 2.1 assists per 36 minutes. Brown praised his energy in Tuesday's win over the Lakers, which Kornet closed at center. Hauser shot 48.9% from three through a scorching start where he attempted 4.5 per game in 21 appearances. Hauser's cooled off recently and Williams III's return on Friday will reduce Kornet's nightly role, but developing both players at the G-League level changed what hadn't been a system facilitating player growth in Maine toward productivity in Boston in recent years. Fans often wondered why the Celtics couldn't find their own Max Strus. They've found two. 

"I think one thing that's helped (Hauser) is Joe (Mazzulla) has a lot of trust in him," Christian said. "Joe's seen him at this level and obviously seen him in the Summer League, but he trusts Sam to make the right plays more often than not, and defensively, like I said, Sam's just a guy that understands where he needs to be and can understand and execute (defensive) coverages, whether it's on-ball or off-ball."

Teams try to attack Hauser and often veer away from their offensive structure to do so, only to find out the 6-7 forward can often hold his own. Kornet has defended well in a drop scheme, which sometimes forces him to leap to contest threes 15-20 feet away from him in a vision-blocking move that's become known as the Kornet contest or eclipse, something Christian noticed and stopped a film session to show the Maine team was an example of showing effort. 

Hauser and Kornet's ascent gives hope to the team's new two-way duo of JD Davison and Mfiondu Kabengele, along with training camp invites Luka Samanic and Denzel Valentine who are playing in Maine this season. Last year, as Maine moved the ball, cut and sprinted in transition, some fans glimpsed at the G-League squad's success and asked why the struggling pro team couldn't play the same way. Now, they more closely resemble each other with off-ball screening and Kabengele's rolling unlocking driving lanes and shooting space for teammates. 

They went on a 43-7 run against LiAngelo Ball and Greensboro on Thursday and went on to win by 49, starting 10-6 ahead of the Showcase Cup in Las Vegas. They won't have to worry about losing players entering the tournament or a league-wide shutdown due to the need for call-ups. 

Kabengele flew to LA to meet his Celtics teammates for their back-to-back games though earlier this week before returning to Maine, then watching Williams III's debut at the Garden on Friday. His journey more closely reflects the life of a two-way NBA player before COVID-era opportunities, constant travel and patience on a winning team that doesn't need his minutes now. 

Five big men stand in front of him on the roster, but after an encouraging training camp, Jaylen Brown pulled Kabengele aside to run pick-and-rolls long after practice. The moment stuck with Kabengele, 25, who lost his NBA footing after entering the league as a 2019 first-round pick, and finds himself inspired by what Hauser, Kornet and others whose names now hang on the Portland Expo Center walls accomplished last season. He asks them for advice often when he's around.

"Rob's been great," Kabengele said. "I asked him questions about how he found success in the G-League, being a big man, because you're not really the primary ball-handler, primary shot-taker, and stuff like that. So I asked Rob, 'what were kind of the things that made you have success and play the way you play?' I asked Kornet the same thing, he was in a similar situation as I was and Sam Hauser, they had a lot of success, their squad had a bunch of call-ups. I would ask those guys, 'what was their mindset and how they approached it?' Because it's easy to be like, I'm on a two-way, I'm working myself and be selfish and then not have team success. I asked those guys how they maintained a level of focus and what the Boston Celtics expect from them."

Here's what else happened around the NBA this week... 

Atlanta (15-15): They've lost 5 of 8 in December and rank 20th in offense and 25th in defense as they trend in the wrong direction. Memphis beat them handily without Ja Morant and the Magic blasted them for 134 points. Dejounte Murray (ankle), John Collins (ankle) and Trae Young (back) are all hurting, but Landry Fields said none of their injuries are serious even as Murray and Collins sat out this week. Clint Capela joined them on the bench with a calf injury on Friday, but Bogdan Bogdanovic and Young righted the ship with 59 points in a win over Charlotte. They're eighth in the east. 

Boston (22-8): The Warriors rocked them in a Finals rematch reminiscent of the games they played in June, Golden State running the Celtics off the three-point line and crowding Jayson Tatum in the paint. The offensive slippage continued in a loss to the Clippers and a near collapse up by 20 points against the Lakers that they salvaged with a 13-point turnaround in the final four minutes into overtime. Robert Williams III made his season debut on Friday, but his solid minutes and dunks couldn't prevent a stunning loss to the Magic. The Celtics ranked 30th in offense while losing 3-of-4, falling to 50.6 eFG% as their shooting crashes back to earth. Al Horford, who missed five straight games for COVID/personal reasons, drew a flagrant two on Friday. 

Brooklyn (18-12): Hard to rule them out as a player in the east as the good times continue and the drama stays out of the building. They've won five straight since losing to the Celtics earlier this month, beating the Raptors in Toronto on a Kyrie Irving game-winner from three. The Nets rank No. 2 in offense during their win streak, and have settled at 15th in defense for the season to reach into the top 10 in net rating (+1.8). Kevin Durant and Irving are averaging 60.8 PPG on elite efficiency while producing 10.8 APG. This group figured something out under Jacque Vaughn. Keep an eye on them.

Charlotte (7-22): Losers of seven straight and drew an ominous callout from Steve Clifford after allowing 120 points in the last five of those games. LaMelo Ball (ankle) returned and scored 23 points with 11 assists against Detroit on Wednesday before Clifford lit into their offensive mindset. Neither that nor Gordon Hayward (shoulder) returning in Friday's loss to Atlanta with nine points helped this team avoid reaching the bottom of the NBA. 

"Until we care about something besides how many points we score, we're not going to win much,'' Clifford said. "We are playing no defense -- not one guy. There's not a bright spot. We don't run back on defense, we don't guard the ball, our pick-and-roll stuff ... all we care about is scoring. That's it.''

Chicago (11-17): Another tough week here as Adrian Wojnarowksi reported Lonzo Ball (knee) isn't guaranteed to play this season as pain lingers in his recovery from knee surgery nearly one year ago. They lost a pair of overtime games to Atlanta and New York after back-to-back wins late last week, then only managed 91 points in the follow-up matchup against the Knicks at home. No team is in a more obvious position to take a step back now for a possible future leap forward, and they'd be intriguing sellers with great players like DeMar DeRozan and Alex Caruso alongside Andre Drummond and Goran Dragic as bench help for contending teams. For Chicago fans, a chance to retain their top-four protected pick beats this weekly turbulence. 

Cleveland (19-11): Donovan Mitchell scored 35 points against Dallas and 41 over the Pacers to make up for a tough loss to the Spurs on Monday. Mitchell's 29.2 PPG ranked fourth all-time for a player joining a new team through their first 25 games, according to ESPN, as Mitchell powers this group through any games he plays in, while Darius Garland's creation ability allowed them to win last Saturday over the Thunder while Mitchell sat. Lamar Stevens and Caris LeVert have filled their gap at the wing spot through a 5-3 December, but their 17th-ranked 53.1 eFG% this month is a question. 

Dallas (15-14): Big Luka Doncic and Christian Wood nights proved enough to win over the Trail Blazers, but not the Cavaliers. Tim Hardaway Jr. managed 20 points in a win against the Thunder, while the Bulls blasted Dallas last weekend while Doncic sat. Kemba Walker appeared for limited minutes against Chicago and Portland, sitting the two games in between, as he looks like a minor part of the equation here for now. Maxi Kleber, an important floor spacer off their bench, tore his right hamstring in practice on Tuesday and is out indefinitely. Tyrell Terry, the team's second-round pick in 2020, announced his retirement from basketball at 22 after the Mavericks waived him last year, citing mental health challenges from playing basketball. 

Denver (17-11): Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray combined for 61 points in a win over the Jazz before Jokic did the heavy lifting with 43 points in a shootout with the Wizards. The Nuggets fell to end the week against a strong LeBron James-led effort, but they're seeing more signs of the old Murray weekly, rank third in the west and No. 2 in offense behind Boston. They're just missing Michael Porter Jr. (foot), who practiced this week, but still hasn't played in Denver's past 10 games. Jokic called out the team's defensive effort after they fell to 28th in defensive rating following Wednesday's win. 

Detroit (8-23): Cade Cunningham is expected to miss the entire 2022-23 season after undergoing surgery on his left tibia to promote healing in his stress fracture that cost him all but 12 games this season. It's a tough blow given the long-term worries surrounding a strange injury, but the Pistons appear to be on a longer rebuild path than one year ago and their increased lottery odds now appear certain. They've also provided Killian Hayes more opportunity, who's averaging 13.0 PPG and 7.3 APG on 44.7% shooting this month, and Jaden Ivey gets to play through some struggles. Bojan Bogdanovic and Alec Burks will draw interest closer to the trade deadline, as the Lakers noise already follows the former.

Golden State (14-16): After scoring their signature win of the season over the Celtics with great bench production from Jonathan Kuminga and Donte DiVincenzo, they lost to the Bucks, Pacers and 76ers to fall to 2-14 on the road and out of the west playoff picture entirely. Steph Curry injured his shoulder against Indiana on Wednesday and will miss several weeks after an MRI revealed a partial dislocation, avoiding surgery that would've put his season at risk. Curry has largely carried the team through youth and Klay Thompson struggles, so the month ahead could make-or-break this group. 

Houston (9-18): Nice to see this team rally around head coach Stephen Silas after he returned from grieving the death of Paul Silas, his father and a legendary NBA head coach who won two championships as a player with the Celtics. Silas died at 79 on Dec. 10, mostly coaching in Charlotte before taking over the Cavaliers as LeBron James' first professional head coach in 2003-04. Monty Williams and Stephen shared a heartfelt moment before the Rockets beat the Suns, as they're quietly piecing together a balanced December defensively where they've shown serious growth at 4-3. 

"My dad, obviously, he was my No. 1 mentor, someone who I could lean on, ask questions and he asked questions of me," Stephen said in 2021. "He really valued my opinion, which was kind of weird to me, me being so young and not having much experience."

Indiana (15-15): Tyrese Haliburton, Bennedict Mathurin and Myles Turner all scored 20 points on Wednesday as the Pacers beat the Warriors in spite of Steph Curry's 38-point explosion before his injury. Haliburton bounced back from an 0-for-9 game against the Heat where he scored one point in over 30 minutes, challenging the Cavaliers to end the week, but falling short of Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland's 61 points. While the team is slipping overall this month, now 3-6 with a -3.9 net rating and 16th-ranked offense, Haliburton is boasting an incredible 3:1 assist-to-turnover ratio that places him squarely in the race for All-NBA. Only six Pacers, including Paul George, Victor Oladipo and Reggie Miller, have ever achieved that. 

Clippers (17-14): The inconsistent lineups night-to-night seem to be wearing on this group. Everything clicked as Kawhi Leonard and Paul George combined for 51 points and nine assists while shutting down the Celtics on Monday. George notched his first Clippers triple-double while they beat the Timberwolves, 99-88, then both stars sat as the team got battered by the Suns on Thursday after only their ninth game together this year. 

“It’s definitely real frustrating when we have a good thing going, have a nice little rhythm, figuring stuff out. About to start a nice little win streak, I thought, and this happens," Terance Mann said after leading LA in scoring in the loss. 

Lakers (12-16): Anthony Davis (foot) left Friday's win over the Nuggets after 19 minutes and did not return for the second half. He'll likely undergo an MRI, but ESPN reported the ailment is not expected to be serious. Davis returned to All-NBA form early this season and the Lakers have rocketed back into the playoff race, a 4-4 team this month with a narrow net positive rating and the eighth-best offense in December. Thomas Bryant filled in with 21 points against Denver, but this group remains reliant on Davis, LeBron James and Russell Westbrook's steady sixth man production, which likely shelves any possibility Russ gets traded for now. 

That could change though, as his salary could become important in any deal and LA's meltdown loss to the Celtics on Tuesday featured an all too common trend in overtime -- Boston able to guard Westbrook with Luke Kornet and lure him into overtime jump shots. Shams Charania reported the Lakers have discussed trades with Detroit for Bojan Bogdanovic and New York for Evan Fournier and Cam Reddish. 

Memphis (18-9): The latest No. 1 seed in the west in what's become a revolving door in recent weeks since the Suns slid. They earned it by unloading on the Hawks without Ja Morant, then riding his triple-double to a 142-101 thrashing of the Bucks for the Grizzlies' seventh straight win. Memphis is undefeated, No. 2 in offense and No. 2 in defense this month with a +17.7 net rating to take over Boston's throne as the league's hottest team. They did all that without Desmond Bane (toe), with Morant missing two games and Dillon Brooks fitting into his role as a high-volume three-point shooter. 

Miami (15-15): They're in the playoff picture after beating the Pacers and escaping the Thunder, 110-108, behind Tyler Herro's 35 points. This is still one weird team though, and their latest scuffle with the league office over injury reporting is just another strange moment to start this season. The Heat listed five players on their injury report before the Oklahoma City game who played without an update in their designation, drawing the team a $25,000 fine, so ahead of Saturday's game against the Spurs, Miami listed its entire roster on the injury report. 

Milwaukee (20-8): Tied with the Celtics for the east's top seed after Boston lost on Friday, but they haven't been much better offensively over their last four games, ranking 29th over that stretch. Khris Middleton sprained his ankle in a loss to the Rockets on Sunday as his uneven return from wrist surgery continues. He returned to score 20 points in a win over the Warriors, but was shut down in 22 minutes by Memphis in a historic loss for a team with their record. Jrue Holiday missed their last two games with a non-COVID illness. Middleton is shooting 32.5% from the field through seven games. Joe Ingles, who quietly joined the Bucks after ACL surgery last year, will reportedly make his season debut as an important addition on Monday. 

Minnesota (14-15): Naz Reid and Austin Rivers led the Wolves to a close win over the Thunder to end their losing streak. Not exactly how this group predicted they'd win games entering the season. Rudy Gobert (ankle) missed the win, and Minnesota is a -0.7 per 100 possessions in his minutes. That's better than D'Angelo Russell, but nowhere near the impact this franchise expected in mortgaging its future on the big man. They just need to make it work, and the first step for Tim Connelly could be reassessing Chris Finch's future as they play an up-tempo style strange for a roster around bigs. 

New Orleans (18-10): Zion Williamson is shocking the NBA world every night again, his latest performance coming across 42 minutes into overtime against the Jazz where he scored 31 points with seven rebounds and seven assists, the final one to Trey Murphy III to force overtime. The Pelicans lost both games of the mini-series, but seeing Williamson average 30.1 PPG on 62.4% shooting this month is invigorating for a team that had a ton of questions regarding its franchise cornerstone one year ago. They're also ninth in offense and seventh in defense as a team this month.

New York (16-13): As they seemed on the brink of being unable to turn the Tom Thibodeau era around, they won six straight games and have posted a league-leading 100.6 defensive rating in seven games this month. Jalen Brunson shined in a mini-series sweep against Chicago, beating Alex Caruso for a critical basket in overtime. He scored 30 points and added 22 in the follow-up blowout, while Julius Randle led the team with 27.0 PPG, 11.0 RPG and 4.2 APG through the streak. Quentin Grimes' offense is opening up with the starters and they've tightened the rotation. 

How long will it last?

Oklahoma City (11-18): Making up for that early season winning with five straight losses to sink back toward the lottery race after looking like a play-in candidate through November. They're 26th in offense this month even as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander keeps cooking, averaging 30.6 PPG on 49.5% shooting through those losses. Ousmane Dieng, one of their rookies who hasn't played often this season, will miss six weeks with a wrist injury. 

Orlando (10-20): Suddenly one of the hottest teams in basketball as they've regained health, knocking off the Clippers, Raptors twice, Hawks and Celtics on a five-game win streak that started after they played the Bucks close earlier this month. They rank 12th in offense and 14th in defense in December, as brothers Moe Wagner and Franz Wagner average 35.5 PPG after Moe missed the start of the year injured. Paolo Banchero is still scoring nearly 20 points every night, Cole Anthony and Markelle Fultz have provided some back court scoring, while Bol Bol remains a dazzling glue player on both ends. They're young and extremely raw, but the talent is present up and down this lineup. At some point, they'll also get long-injured Jonathan Isaac back. 

Philadelphia (16-12): Stabilizing atop the east after escaping the Lakers in overtime, then handling the Hornets, Kings and Warriors with relative ease. Joel Embiid is back in MVP form, averaging 39.0 PPG on 61.1% shooting during the win streak. The 76ers are sixth in offense and defense in December, and James Harden is hitting his threes while serving 13.0 APG. Seeing them connect raises some of the tantalizing potential they flashed when they joined forces one year ago, but their successes still remain too disconnected too often. Harden looked back on his time in Brooklyn with Fox Sports.

Phoenix (17-12): Received a badly-needed break when the Clippers' stars sat and opened the door to a 111-95 win that broke a five-game Suns losing streak. Dallas, Boston and New Orleans unloaded on Phoenix, now 24th in defense this month after emerging as the best two-way team early this season. Chris Paul, Devin Booker and Mikal Bridges have all shot worse than 40% while dropping 6-of-8, while Deandre Ayton got ran off the floor by the Celtics. SB Nation compared the lull to past seasons, but Cam Johnson and Jae Crowder's absences make this team uniquely thin. 

Sacramento (16-12): Domantas Sabonis is a rock, combining for 44 points and 33 rebounds in back-to-back road wins over the Raptors and Pistons that are important for solidifying this team's standing in the west. They're eighth in defense this month and playing positive minutes as Keegan Murray finds his shot. This looked like a team put together to sneak into the playoffs and end North America's longest drought. They've, instead, bordered on something more around Sabonis and De'Aaron Fox. The Tyrese Haliburton conversation will always be there, but they finally look stable. 

San Antonio (9-19): Jakob Poetl, a popular name around the Celtics earlier this season, continues to draw interest around the league and could land back on the Raptors after the team sent him to the Spurs in the Kawhi Leonard deal, according to Jake Fischer. The Bulls also had past interest in the big man as they assess Nikola Vucevic's future ahead of his free agency. Poetl, 27, is also an impending free agent averaging 12.9 PPG and 9.9 RPG. 

Toronto (13-16): Suddenly on the edge of the east playoff picture after losing four straight games, including Friday's last-second loss to the Nets. They rank 23rd in defense this month while their three-point shooting hasn't been there among their regular contributors. Their 51.4 eFG% is 27th in December while they've lost 6-of-8. They weren't supposed to be a team questioning its identity after a promising 2022, but Fred VanVleet, Pascal Siakam and O.G. Anunoby all shared uncertain futures with the Raptors at one point in recent years. Masai Ujiri may need to assess the entire picture. 

Utah (17-14): One night Jordan Clarkson and Lauri Markkanen are combining for 70 points after three double-doubles from Jared Vanderbilt, Walker Kessler and Markkanen built a blowout win over an elite Pelicans team. That all happened in one mini series and these Jazz won't go away, an offensively brilliant group that keeps overcoming defensive issues to win in a variety of ways. Markkanen is the constant, now averaging 23.8 PPG and 8.8 RPG while shooting 51.6% from three this month. They visit the Bucks on Saturday to begin an important midwest trip seventh in the west. 

Washington (11-18): Losers of eight straight and looking like they're going to fade from the east playoff race fast. Multiple reports have signaled impending free agent Kyle Kuzma won't sign an extension and will look to leave the team, and in short order Bradley Beal's future should become a question again. The Wizards aren't far from the Victor Wembenyama sweepstakes, and they'll need that kind of luck to infuse some hope for this team.