He's not Larry Bird. He's not Ray Allen. And he's likely never going to establish himself as one of the Boston Celtics' great three-point shooters, but Hugo Gonzalez is lighting it up from downtown in preseason.
I get that it's only preseason, but these are still games against mostly legitimate NBA talent. Through three preseason games, Gonzalez is shooting 8-for-13 (61.5%) from deep. Is that sustainable, and is that going to carry over into the regular season? Highly, highly, highly, highly unlikely. But this is still an incredible sight to see.
Hugo Gonzalez improving as a shooter could be huge for the Celtics
Gonzalez wasn't a shooter at all before entering the league (he shot 27.1% from deep on 1.1 attempts during three seasons with Real Madrid). He wasn't much of one during his rookie season (a solid 36.2% but on just 1.6 attempts per game). And he wasn't even a good shooter during Summer League this year (25.9% on 9 attempts per game).
His poor shooting is arguably his biggest flaw as an NBA talent. The 20-year-old is already a strong defender, he hustles (and when I say hustles, I mean he needs to wear a helmet whenever he steps onto the court- that type of hustling), he has high basketball IQ, he's good off the ball, and he has great feel for the game.
Gonzalez has the potential to be a legitimately great player for Boston. He's already shown a ton of promise (already an incredible defender and recorded an 18-point, 16-rebound double-double against the Milwaukee Bucks in one of his three starts last season), and he still has so much time and room to develop.
Becoming an actual threat from the outside would level his game up greatly, and it would make him an even better fit in Boston's perimeter-centric system. So far, it looks like he could be on his way to becoming exactly that.
Hugo Gonzalez could be in line for a career year with the Celtics
After trading Jaylen Brown away, it's going to be all hands on deck for the rest of Boston's roster to replace his impact. A lot of eyes are going to be on Jayson Tatum (now the clear-cut No.1 guy), Paul George (the new sidekick), Derrick White (one of the Celtics' most important players on both sides of the ball), and Payton Pritchard (could become a full-time starter to add more shot creation to the lineup), but it's up to the rest of the supporting cast to step up, too.
That includes guys like Baylor Scheierman and Sam Hauser, but Gonzalez is absolutely a real breakout candidate. It's clear that the Celtics value him and want to continue developing him, and he should be in line for a bigger role this season, given the new-look roster.
And he's absolutely earned it. Gonzalez is a good basketball player who contributes to winning, and he should be a real asset for years to come. He deserves a bigger role, and even though it's just preseason, he's showing why.
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