On Wednesday night, Hugo Gonzalez was suited up as Real Madrid won its second consecutive ACB championship. Six hours later, he got a call from Brad Stevens, who told him that the Boston Celtics would be selecting him with the 28th pick in the 2025 NBA Draft.
Gonzalez didn’t see action in the championship game, which, in some respects, is part of his appeal. The 19-year-old Madrid native has been in Real Madrid’s system for nearly a decade, joining the club’s youth team at just 10 years old. Over the last three seasons, he’s been a role player with the big club, gaining valuable experience and competing against elite talent.
“He’s played with adults for a long time. He’s playing on a team full of experienced former NBA players and high, high-level pros from all over the world,” said Stevens. “This guy has been around it at a high level and been coached really well. When you talk about years overall, yes, he’s young. But years of basketball experience, the things that we think are important, it’s probably pretty high.”
Former Celtic Bruno Fernando, along with Dennis Smith Jr., Dzanan Musa, Facu Campazzo, Gabriel Deck, Mario Hezonja, Serge Ibaka, Usman Garuba, Edy Tavares, and Xavier Rathan-Mayes, all spent time with Real Madrid this season after playing in the NBA. Go back to 2023–24, and you can add Guerschon Yabusele — ironically, the Celtics’ last first-round pick who didn’t play college ball (2016) — and Vincent Poirier to the list.
“He’s playing around a bunch of studs. Guys that have been old pros. They know how to play. They’re hard to beat out. They’re physical, tough, [and] smart,” said Stevens. “Extremely well coached. When you are that age in that situation, you’ve got to earn your stripes.”
Surrounded by that level of talent, the 6-foot-6 youngster naturally found himself in a limited role. In league play, he averaged 5.2 points on 44.4% shooting (27.1% from three) and 2.5 rebounds in 14.2 minutes per game last season. In tournament play, his numbers dipped to 1.9 points on 32.0% shooting (29.2% from three) and 1.4 rebounds in just 8.0 minutes. Across his three seasons with the senior club, he averaged 3.2 points (41.3% FG, 27.1% 3PT) and 1.6 rebounds per game.
But Stevens and the Celtics aren’t concerned about the limited playing time, or the numbers for that matter. Stevens recalled a moment from 2016 when he was still coaching the Celtics and a 16-year-old Luka Doncic suited up for Real Madrid in a preseason exhibition at the Barclaycard Center in Madrid. Doncic came off the bench, played 16 minutes, and scored just one point on 0-of-2 shooting.
“We played against this team when we took our team there years ago in the preseason. We played against a 16-year-old [Luka] Doncic that hardly got in,” said Stevens. “Hugo’s a little older, and I’m not comparing to Doncic, but I will say it’s great when you get to play on those teams. When you put on a Real Madrid jersey, you put on the responsibility similar to here. And I think that that’s a good thing.”
Being in that type of environment, surrounded by professionals, high-level coaches, and teammates, while also having to fight to get onto the court, has helped shape the selflessness and professionalism of Gonzalez, who doesn’t turn 20 until February. They were traits Stevens lauded on Wednesday night — traits he has consistently valued in his roster building.
“When we interviewed Hugo a couple of weeks ago on Zoom, it’s really clear that he’s about the team, and he accepts and is willing to play any role it takes,” said Stevens. “That’s not a learned trait for everybody that’s in the draft because most of these guys have never sat. And with that comes humility and also an understanding that you’ve got to invest every day just to take advantage of whatever opportunity you get.”
Beyond that, Gonzalez has been on the Celtics’ radar for “a long time,” thanks in large part to his hustle, defensive tenacity, off-ball movement, team-first approach, high motor, and competitiveness.
“We’ve been watching Hugo for a long time. He’s obviously been on everybody’s radar, I think, for a long time. [We] followed his year with a great Real Madrid organization and team closely and watched him in all the UA teams and those types of things, and [I’m] just a big fan of how he plays,” said Stevens. “He’s tough. He’s hard-playing. He cuts. He goes after the ball. He competes. He’s got all the intangibles of a winning basketball player, and there are things he can get better at, just like everybody else at that age, but the competitiveness is at a high level.”
With the ACB playoffs just wrapping up, it’s still unclear whether Gonzalez will join the Celtics for Summer League in Las Vegas on July 10. But the plan is to bring him stateside right away rather than stashing him overseas for a year, which would have saved the team some money. While Stevens is a big fan of Gonzalez’s overall game, one of the first areas of development will be his shot — something Stevens believes the Celtics are well-equipped to help him improve.
“We were really excited that Hugo was available at 28,” he said. “Just a willingness to do sacrificial things, I guess. We talk about sacrificial cuts that open up opportunities for other people. We talk about sacrificial cuts that end up in you getting an offensive rebound. We talk about sacrificing your body on defense. We talk about competing on defense. Talk about flying back in transition and blocking a shot, catching up to a play. Those are the things that he’s willing to do that I like. He will become a better shooter, I believe that. We’ve got a good development program for that. So, you know, I’m excited about him.”
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