How a late first-round pick found his place with the Boston Celtics

Hugo González will finish the year in a very different place from where he started it. That much was clear the moment he was selected 28th overall in the first round of the draft, leaving Real Madrid to join the legendary Celtics. With that move, the player brought an end to a development pathway that had allowed him to establish himself in Madrid’s rotation under Chus Mateo, and leapt into the NBA – that dream factory where everything seems possible. That is exactly what the 19-year-old Spaniard wants, and with Eli Ndiaye sidelined through injury, he has become one of just two players from the country currently competing in the North American league, picking up the baton from the golden generation that once flooded the NBA with Spanish talent.

Things are going very well. After a quiet start in which he struggled to carve out a role, González now has the trust of Joe Mazzulla and his teammates and is steadily gaining prominence. He has appeared in each of the last 12 games, a stretch in which the Celtics have gone 9–3. During that run, the Spaniard has played more than 20 minutes on five occasions and topped 30 minutes twice. He is making himself indispensable through the intangibles, becoming increasingly important to Boston’s system, and the team performs better when he is on the floor – one of the most valuable traits any basketball player can offer. It is an extremely positive sign for a young player who is settling in, earning his coach’s confidence while stacking up minutes and strong performances.

Boston traveled to Salt Lake City to face the Jazz, a team drifting without direction, absent from the playoffs since 2022 and led by Will Hardy, a coach with ideas but little help from the front office. Lurking in the background, incidentally, is Danny Ainge, now an adviser – a Boston legend first as a player and later as an executive. His final years in charge yielded little, defining a leadership style marked by immobility and waiting for things to happen rather than making them happen. When Brad Stevens stepped away from the bench to take over, everything changed, capped by the 2024 championship ring. All that history hovered over a game between two teams at opposite ends of the spectrum, in terms of both form and ambition – though basketball does not always obey logic.

The game ended in a 129–119 win for the Celtics, who had six players score in double figures. Derrick White led the way with 27 points, adding six rebounds and five assists, while Jaylen Brown chipped in 23. González logged more than 17 minutes once again, further cementing his place in the rotation. For the Jazz, Keyonte George produced a spectacular display with 37 points, six rebounds and seven assists, but it was not enough. A 30–23 deficit in the final quarter extinguished the home team’s hopes. The result matched expectations – and it brought more good news for González, who continues to collect meaningful minutes and is emerging as one of the NBA’s most settled rookies. He has spent 2025 making dreams come true. And 2026 promises even more.

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