Boston Celtics guard Hugo Gonzalez (28) during an NBA basketball game, Wednesday, March 4, 2026, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Boston Celtics guard Hugo Gonzalez (28) during an NBA basketball game, Wednesday, March 4, 2026, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Most of what Hugo Gonzalez brought to the Celtics last season didn’t show up in the box score.
The energy. The cutting. The in-your-face defense. The maniacal hustle. The ability to see and process the game more clearly than most teenage rookies can.
Gonzalez’s conventional stats were unimpressive (3.9 points, 3.3 rebounds, 0.5 assists, 0.6 steals per game in 74 appearances). But his plus-11.9 individual net rating ranked second on the team, behind only center Neemias Queta, and first among all 2025 draftees who played at least 10 games.
Defense and dirty work still headline Gonzalez’s job description as the 20-year-old wing enters his second NBA season. But through two preseason games, he’s also shown signs of growth as an offensive option.
In wins over the Cleveland Cavaliers last Thursday and Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday, Gonzalez shot an eye-popping 68.8% from the field (11-for-16) and 70% from 3-point range (70%). He started against the Cavs and scored 15 points in 26 minutes (plus five assists), then put up 17 in 21 minutes off the bench against the Sixers, making six of his seven shots and all four of his threes in a 144-106 beatdown at TD Garden.
Gonzalez scored more than 10 points just four times last season, topping out at 18 in a career-best night against the Milwaukee Bucks on March 2.
“We’ve got a great system where everybody can get an opportunity to impact the game offensively,” he said Monday, downplaying his strong scoring numbers thus far. “I know my first job is to be a great defender and to try to guard the best players on the other team. Whatever comes from there, it just comes because we’ve got a great staff and great players that know how to make big-time plays.”
Gonzalez, whom Boston reportedly refused to include in its failed trade offer for Giannis Antetokounmpo this offseason, also averaged 18.3 points over three appearances at the Las Vegas Summer League, though he did so on far less efficient shooting (31.8%; 25.9% from deep).
“I just try to play the game the right way, whatever that means,” he said. “I just think we’re playing the type of basketball where everybody starts to be engaged, and that’s it. Play the game the right way, and whatever comes, it’ll be like that.”
It’s not yet clear how Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla, who removed Gonzalez from his rotation late last season, plans to utilize the young Spaniard in Year 2. Gonzalez is part of a crowded collection of wings that also includes Sam Hauser, Baylor Scheierman, Jordan Walsh, Ron Harper Jr. and veteran headliners Jayson Tatum and Paul George.
Against Philadelphia, Gonzalez was the 10th Celtics player to check in and the only returning regular still in the game late in the fourth quarter. In addition to his 17 points, he grabbed six rebounds (two offensive) and drew three offensive fouls, which Mazzulla pointed out in his postgame news conference.
Gonzalez and Scheierman, who’s also drawn three offensive fouls this preseason, “just play a physical style of basketball” that lends itself to their roles as energizers, Mazzulla said. The two recent draftees (Scheierman was a late first-rounder in 2024) are close friends and have shown strong chemistry in their minutes together, combining for six offensive rebounds and 18 assists over the two games.
“(That pairing) has potential to be really effective based on their effort and IQ and their ability to play the game,” Mazzulla said Monday. “But it’s been only a game and a half, so I don’t want to get too excited about that.”
Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell (45) shoots as Boston Celtics forward Chris Cenac Jr. (12) defends in the first half of an NBA preseason basketball game in Cleveland, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell (45) shoots as Boston Celtics forward Chris Cenac Jr. (12) defends in the first half of an NBA preseason basketball game in Cleveland, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
In his lone collegiate season at Houston, Chris Cenac Jr. had one game with two blocked shots, 16 with one and 20 with zero. As the four in the Cougars’ double-big lineup, he wasn’t often asked to protect the rim.
That changed when the Celtics drafted Cenac 27th overall in June. Shot-blocking has been one of the 6-foot-11 big man’s points of emphasis as he prepares for his rookie season, and the early returns there have been positive.
Cenac rejected four shots in 24 minutes last Thursday in his preseason NBA debut against Cleveland. He also turned in two four-block performances for the Summer Celtics in Las Vegas.
So far, in six total exhibition appearances (two in the preseason, four at Summer League), he’s blocked nearly as many shots (15) as he did all of last season (18).
“I mean, No. 1, just protecting the rim always,” Cenac said Monday when asked what Mazzulla wants to see from him. “When I’m down there, I’ve got to protect the rim. And then just playing physical.”
Cenac is on the Celtics’ 15-man roster, but it would not be surprising to see him log G League minutes in Maine this season as he develops his all-around game. The long, athletic 19-year-old has shown tantalizing potential and room for improvement in his early preseason outings, shooting 5-for-18 from the field and missing all five of his 3-pointers.
“I feel like I can do pretty much anything on the floor because of how versatile I am,” Cenac said. “So whatever’s asked for me to do, I’m going to go out there and do it.”
Based on Mazzulla’s preseason personnel deployment, Cenac appears to be fourth on Boston’s improved center depth chart behind veterans Mitchell Robinson, Neemias Queta and Luka Garza.
While Celtics assistants Tony Dobbins and DJ MacLeay shared head-coaching duties in last week’s preseason opener, Mazzulla watched from the locker room with members of Boston’s video staff.
That setup let Mazzulla see the game from a different perspective — one of the benefits, he said, of putting Dobbins and MacLeay in charge for a night. He put that perspective into practice during an early-game chat with veteran point guard Mike Conley.
“After Mike’s first stint, he had to come back to the locker room, either went to the bathroom or changed his equipment or whatever,” Mazzulla said. “I had three clips waiting for him, and I was able to just show it to him right there. And he goes out and finds those situations two possessions later when he goes back on the floor, and you’re able to see it.
“So just looking for different ways to be able to see the game, communicate the game, stuff like that. It’s always unique because you see the offensive and the defensive coordinators in football that are watching it from above, and they’re seeing from a whole different perspective and they have communication down. So it was just cool to be able to do that. It was a good interaction with Mike, and (I) probably won’t be doing much of that once the season starts.”
Mazzulla plans to hand off coaching duties once more before the regular season begins. Sam Cassell will serve as head coach for the Celtics’ preseason finale in Philadelphia next Friday.
Harper was on the court for Monday’s practice after sitting out the first two preseason games with a shoulder injury. Tryout guard Devin Carter, who missed Saturday’s game with an illness, did not join the Celtics’ rookies and Exhibit-10 players for their usual pre-practice workout. “Devin’s sick. Seems like he’s getting better,” Mazzulla said. “Ron’s working out, taking it day by day. I haven’t gotten the update yet, but he seems to be getting better and better.” … Celtics majority owner Bill Chisholm attended practice. … Boston is scheduled to practice again Tuedsay before hosting the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday (7:30 p.m.).