The Boston Celtics didn't make the biggest headlines in Wednesday's draft, but what's most notable is the moves they didn't make. After trading Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis over the previous couple days, they kept Jaylen Brown and Derrick White.
Brown was linked to the Utah Jazz heading into the draft, via ClutchPoints' Brett Siegel. Several teams in the top 10 also made offers for Brown and White, via ESPN's Brian Windhorst.
However, the Celtics kept two of the players most instrumental to their 2023-24 championship squad. General manager Brad Stevens opened up about the decision after the first round concluded on Wednesday night, via SB Nation's Noa Dalzell.
Boston Celtics forward Jaylen Brown (7)
Boston Celtics forward Jaylen Brown (7)
Bob DeChiara-Imagn Images
“We've got the foundation," he explained. "With Jaylen and Jayson [Tatum] and D-White and Payton [Pritchard], and all those guys that a lot of teams would love to have.”
Boston is unlikely to contend without Tatum (Achilles) next season, but it could reload for the 2026-27 campaign.
The Celtics' newest player could be a part of that effort. They picked 6-foot-6-inch, 223-pound guard Hugo Gonzalez No. 28 overall on Wednesday, who played for Real Madrid the last three seasons as well as the junior and senior Spanish national teams.
Stevens raved about Gonzalez during the presser, via Dalzell.
"We've been watching Hugo for a long time... big fan of how he plays," he said. "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."
Boston also owns the No. 32 overall pick. The second round of the draft will be on Thursday night.