Former Maine Celtics Shining In NBA Playoffs

In the words of head coach Blaine Mueller, the Maine Celtics maximized their time together this season, making it all the way to Game 3 of the NBA G League Finals – it is impossible for a G League team to play more games, and thus spend more time together, than Maine did this season. Even though that historic run came to an end about a month ago, there are still plenty of Maine Celtics alumnus hitting the court on a nightly basis. 

The goal for every G League player, coach or front office staff member is to eventually make it to the NBA. Watching those who have come through the Maine organization reach the pinnacle of success is perhaps the most rewarding aspect of being a part of a developmental league – and in this year’s NBA playoffs, a handful of former Celtics (and Red Claws) are living that out on the big stage.  

Let’s keep things in-house to start; the big club down in Boston has featured two former Maine Celtics in its playoff rotation – Sam Hauser and Luke Kornet – and both fill critical roles off the bench. Hauser and Kornet both spent the 2021-22 Showcase with Maine, earning standard NBA contracts with Boston by the trade deadline. Both have remained with the Celtics ever since and have only become more impactful in their roles through consistently strong performance. 

Though Kornet was injured for the early portion of the Miami series, he was able to return for the final three games and help close it out. The 7-foot-1 big man is a deterrent when lurking underneath the rim, and guarded Bam Adebayo whenever Al Horford was in need of relief. Playoff series are won and lost on the margins; Kornet’s series against the Heat is a prime example of how a player can leave their mark on a game without stuffing the box score or scoring a boatload of points. Kornet is more than willing to do the “little things” like screening, boxing out, and running the floor, to help his team win when it matters most. 

In Hauser’s case, filling up the stat sheet is exactly how he makes his impact – particularly the “points” and “3PM” columns of the box score. After establishing a new playoff career-high in scoring with 12 points in Game 1, Hauser bested it with 17 points on 5-8 from deep in the series-clinching Game 5. The most total points he’d ever scored in an entire playoff series prior to the first round against Miami? 17. Not only did Hauser eclipse that in one game, but he also littered in a couple more strong performances on top of it. The third-year wing has shown up in big moments so far this postseason. 

It's always nice to see Maine Celtics graduate and head down I-95 to play for Boston. But really, success is success, no matter where or with what team it’s achieved. On top of Hauser and Kornet making a name for themselves with Boston, we’ve still got former Celtic Aaron Nesmith on the court for Indiana, and former Maine Red Claws coach Darren Erman on the sidelines for the New York Knicks.  

Since being traded from Boston alongside Daniel Theis and fellow Maine Celtics alumnus Juwan Morgan, Malik Fitts and Nik Stauskas, Nesmith has blossomed into an impactful two-way wing with Indiana. The fourth-year Vanderbilt product signed a contract extension with the Pacers early in the season and followed it up by posting career-highs of 12.3 points and 3.8 rebounds per game, shooting 41.9% from deep on 4.6 attempts per game, both of which are comfortably career-highs in terms of 3-point volume and efficiency. The self-proclaimed “absolute sniper” seems to have rediscovered his jumper in the Hoosier State. 

Nesmith played two games with Maine during the 2021-22 season, posting 21 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists in his debut, leading the Celtics to a 28-point win over the Wisconsin Herd. Now a full-time starter in the playoffs for Indiana, a matchup between Nesmith and his former team – the one that drafted him 14^th overall in 2020 – is potentially on the horizon. 

On the other side of the Knicks-Pacers series is former Maine head coach, Darren Erman. 

Erman patrolled the Portland Expo sidelines during the shortened 2019-20 season, in which Maine held a 28-14 record prior to the season’s cancellation due to the COVID pandemic. The first-time head coach led a Red Claws squad that featured Two-Way players Tacko Fall and Tremont Waters, along with Yante Maten, Bryce Brown, and occasional Boston assignees Carsen Edwards, Romeo Langford, and Vincent Poirier. Erman had the team positioned for a top seed in the G League playoffs before the season ended abruptly. 

Since departing Maine after the cancelled season, Erman has been an assistant on the New York Knicks coaching staff head coach Tom Thibodeau. The two coaches previously worked together as assistants on Boston’s coaching staff from 2007-2010 and were parts of the Celtics’ championship run in 2008. Now with their best chance at a deep playoff run since reuniting in New York, the two former Celtics assistants will have to get through Indiana, and then potentially Boston for a berth in the NBA Finals.