A ton of people had high hopes for Hugo Gonzalez ahead of his second season with the Boston Celtics. He showed flashes as a rookie (he's already a legitimate NBA-level defender) and had a promising Summer League and preseason (the three-ball was very much looking alive). And even though we're still very, very early in the campaign, things have not gone as expected.
The Spanish native played 10 minutes during the Celtics' season-opening loss against the Detroit Pistons (zero points, 0-for-1 from the field, three rebounds, struggled defensively) and just four minutes against the New York Knicks last Friday (zero points, 0-for-1 from the field, one assist).
Gonzalez is going to be fine. He's still going to be a big part of Boston's future (Brad Stevens even said so himself), and it's a long season. But given the reports that the Celtics refused to include him in a trade for Giannis Antetokounmpo (if this was even true), this is not a great start to his sophomore season.
Hugo Gonzalez still has some work to do in Boston
Gonzalez is a very intriguing player. He can defend. He can get to the basket. He is athletic. He brings a ton of energy whenever he's on the court. And he's just 20 years old.
But he still has some work to do to be a consistent part of Boston's rotation right now, particularly as a jump-shooter. He was a complete negative from deep with Real Madrid (he shot 27.1% on 1.1 three-point attempts during three seasons), and while he shot 36.2% from beyond the arc as a rookie, he took just 1.6 attempts per game.
Given that he shot 11-for-20 (55%) from behind the line in preseason, it looks like he could be on his way to becoming at least somewhat of a reliable shooter, which would greatly level up his game in Boston.
Hugo Gonzalez has a lot of competition in Celtics' rotation
While Gonzalez is a talented player, he has a lot of competition, and it's going to be tough for him to consistently get minutes right now. The Celtics have a ton of wing depth (Jayson Tatum, Paul George, Sam Hauser, Jordan Walsh, Baylor Scheierman, and Ron Harper Jr., in addition to Gonzalez).
Joe Mazzulla will likely just ride the hot hand (and bench the cold ones), and if that's the case, then Gonzalez should get his opportunities, and it's up to him to make the most of them.
There's a lot to like about the former first-rounder and what he brings to the table. He is the second-youngest player on the Celtics' roster (Chris Cenac Jr. is almost exactly a year younger), and the sky is the limit for him. He should still be in for a career year.
But it's also clear that he still isn't where he needs to be yet, and that's fine. It's a long season, and he will have plenty of chances to showcase his potential and prove that the Celtics were right to value him as highly as they have so far.
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