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With the Boston Celtics expected to try to make up for the loss of Jaylen Brown by committee, the door is open for young players to earn more of an opportunity than they were initially expecting.
One of those young players could be Hugo Gonzalez, using the NBA Summer League as his chance to put his skills on display.
Gonzalez, 20, showed what he's capable of while leading the Celtics to an 82-76 win over the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday night.
The Celtics' 2025 first-round pick led both teams in scoring with 24 points and also added 10 rebounds, five assists, and a steal to his overall production in the game.
Gonzalez connected on 8-of-18 shots from the field and 3-for-9 from three.
While his dominance against Summer League completion may be difficult to evaluate as far as what he's capable of during a true NBA season, Gonzalez does have 74 regular-season and four playoff games under his belt heading into 2026-27.
A stellar performance from Hugo Gonzalez leads the Celtics to an NBA Summer League win! NBA (@NBA) July 16, 2026 24 PTS (game-high) 10 REB (team-high) 5 AST (game-high) 3 3PM pic.twitter.com/Fkbbmu4CZB Gonzalez, a native of Madrid, Spain, only averaged 3.9 points and 3.3 boards in his 74 appearances and three starts during the 2025-26 regular season.
However, he did shoot 47.6% and 36.2% from beyond the arc, showing an efficiency with his shots.
Boston drafted Gonzalez with their 28th pick in 2025 due to his size, ability to play both small forward and shooting guard, and his clutch play in leading Real Madrid to two Liga ACB championships.
It's now up to Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla to find ways to utilize Gonzalez more next season.
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