Hugo Gonzalez shines for Boston Celtics – on track to join Tim Duncan and Chet Holmgren in elite rookie company
Hugo Gonzalez swapped his Real Madrid jersey for a Boston Celtics uniform and has quietly become one of the team’s most impactful rookies this season. The Celtics sit 22-12 and third in the Eastern Conference despite Jayson Tatum being sidelined with an Achilles injury and the club going through parts of a rebuild.
Impact that goes beyond the stat line
Gonzalez averages around 15 minutes per game across 28 appearances, putting up about 4.2 points and 3.2 rebounds on the season. His shooting splits are efficient — roughly 60% on two-pointers and about 38% from three — but those box-score numbers don’t tell the whole story.
The eye-catching figure is his plus/minus: Gonzalez is +149 through 28 games, the best mark among NBA rookies right now. Projected over a full season at the same rate, he’d be on pace to finish a rookie year with a plus/minus north of +400 — a mark only Tim Duncan and Chet Holmgren have reached since play-by-play tracking began in 1996–97. For comparison, other top rookie plus/minus marks this year include Dylan Harper (+79) and VJ Edgecombe (+58).
Plus/minus can be influenced by team strength and matchups, so it’s not a perfect measure, but Gonzalez’s number is still striking. It suggests he’s doing the little things — spacing the floor, making smart plays, hitting high-percentage shots and helping the team stay on the right side of the scoreboard when he’s on the court.
Why the coaching environment matters
Part of Gonzalez’s growth seems to come from the Celtics’ coaching culture. Head coach Joe Mazzulla has a reputation for being direct in his feedback while also rewarding effort and tangible results. Anecdotes from people who observed preseason work describe a coach who will call players out when necessary but also give clear, individual feedback and reward specific hustle plays with more opportunity.
That kind of environment — demanding, accountable and focused on details — can accelerate a young player’s development. For Gonzalez, receiving small, actionable incentives (for example, earning minutes through extra offensive rebounds or defensive effort) appears to be paying off in game results.
Looking ahead, Gonzalez’s raw numbers will likely even out as the season continues, but his current trajectory and the role he’s carved out suggest he could become a reliable rotation piece who contributes more than his basic stats imply.
