As of late July, it appears that the starting power forward spot for Boston is a competition between Hauser and Chris Boucher. 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%). Boucher has been coming off the bench for the past eight years in Toronto. 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 a 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.