The Boston Celtics selected Hugo Gonzalez with the No. 28 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft. At the beginning of the draft cycle, he was projected as high as the top five. But after failing to consistently crack the rotation at Real Madrid, his draft stock plummeted. Now, Gonzalez and the Celtics are making 11 teams, in particular, look foolish for passing on him.
Gonzalez may be a lottery-level talent, but after his draft stock fell, he likely wasn’t going in the lottery (except for maybe at No. 14, ahead of Carter Bryant). Derik Queen went 13th, but every team after him could have relatively reasonably swung on Gonzalez, but they didn’t.
And Boston is definitely happy that they didn’t.
11 teams passed on Hugo Gonzalez when they shouldn't have
The 19-year-old rookie has been a revelation for Joe Mazzulla and the Celtics this season. His defense has been incredible, and he leads every single 2025 rookie in plus/minus so far this season. That’s total plus/minus.
He’s played over 341 minutes this season and is a +132. The second-best plus/minus belongs to Philadelphia 76ers rookie VJ Edgecombe, who has played over 842 minutes and has accrued a +94.
Only 20 rookies in the NBA have a positive plus/minus this season, and Gonzalez’s is the most outlandish of the bunch.
Would the San Antonio Spurs rather have him than Bryant right now? Probably. But what about the other 10 teams that passed on Gonzalez en route to him landing with the Celtics.
The Oklahoma City Thunder took Thomas Sorber at No. 15, but he’s missed all season with an injury. That said, Gonzalez would looked pretty elite in that OKC system.
Yang Hansen and Joan Beringer went back to back at 16 and 17, but the Portland Trail Blazers and Minnesota Timberwolves could both use the defensive intensity that Gonzalez brings to the table.
The next three picks went to the Utah Jazz, Brooklyn Nets, and Miami Heat, who took Walter Clayton Jr., Nolan Traore, and Kasparas Jakucionis. Gonzalez has been better than all three of them.
After that, there was Will Riley to the Washington Wizards, Drake Powell to the Nets, Asa Newell to the Atlanta Hawks, Nique Clifford to the Sacramento Kings, Jase Richardson to the Orlando Magic, and Ben Saraf and Danny Wolf to the Nets.
Gonzalez has been the best of that group by a wide margin.
All 11 teams that could have reasonably selected Gonzalez outside of the lottery (or right at the end of it) should be feeling pretty upset with their scouting departments right about now.
They let the Celtics get an absolute gem.