Celtics Mailbag: When will emerging reserve get another opportunity?

The Celtics are in the thick of a tight Eastern Conference playoff race and a new layer of intrigue was added Thursday with Cade Cunningham’s injury , opening the door for the Pistons to fall back to the pack. Let’s tackle your questions about some of Boston’s wings, a potential new deal for a key reserve and much more in this week’s mailbag. Hi Brian, I was strongly against trading Sam in the off-season given his consistent shooting proficiency.

He’s never been below 40% on three-point shooting in his career. I now wonder if he has plateaued or even taken a step back. I know 38%-39% is still really good, but I just don’t know if we’ll get anything more from him.

I also noticed he always wearing a back brace on the bench and I feel like he dealt with that last year too. Do you have any insight into whether this is affecting him and/or a long-term issue? Thanks.

Andy Hauser has kind of flown under the radar this year with the emergence of Boston’s younger wings but he shook off a slow start and has bounced back nicely. He’s remained durable despite his back issues (appeared in 66 games) and he’s posted career highs in most counting stats (points, rebounds, assists) at 24 minutes per game. The back stuff seems to be something he manages on a daily basis, but it has not appeared to limit him beyond receiving treatment on the bench.