Many Boston Celtics fans are wondering whether or not Hugo González will see significant playing time during his rookie season.
The answer to that question may have just been revealed by an unnamed Celtics coach in talking to Spotrac’s Keith Smith.
Smith was recently in Las Vegas for the NBA Summer League. During the trip, Smith gathered some valuable intel on González from a Celtics coach. Smith shared this information with the basketball world on Monday:
“On Hugo Gonzalez: “I don’t care about the shooting numbers. His legs were Jello. He was exhausted. But he competed. He wants to win. The shot looked good before his legs went. We’ll take it slow, but he’s going to get real minutes as a rookie,” a Celtics coach said.”
Real minutes! That sounds like the Celtics staff is planning on González being in the rotation, or at the very least, starting the season that way. While it’s not a huge surprise to hear that González will immediately get big opportunities to play, given Boston’s diminished roster in 2025-26, it’s still notable that Boston plans to entrust a 19-year-old with an important role. It says a lot about how much faith the Celtics staff has in González’s talent.
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The former Real Madrid phenom was selected at No. 28 overall in the 2025 NBA draft by Boston. González brings a fiery competitiveness to the Celtics that was evident during summer league (as noted by the Celtics coach), but he’s also somewhat of a physical specimen, which hasn’t been discussed as much. González carves out a six-foot-fix frame (normal for an NBA wing) and has a lot of room to get stronger, but he possesses freakishly large hands, per Celtics insider Taylor Snow.
“Celtics first-rounder Hugo Gonzalez had the longest hand measurement of any player at the Draft Combine,” Snow reported. “10.25 inches from the tip of his middle finger to the base of his palm.”
González’s main competition for minutes in the rotation will likely be second-year sharpshooter Baylor Scheierman and third-year wing Jordan Walsh.
