
Boston Celtics select Real Madrid forward Hugo Gonzalez in 2025 NBA draft
The Boston Celtics have selected Spanish small forward Hugo Gonzalez with the No. 28 overall pick of the draft. Gonzalez, a 19-year-old wing standing at 6-foot-6 and weighing in at 207 lbs., last played for Real Madrid in the EuroLeague and Liga ACB in 2024-25.
The bouncy, athletic swingman put up just 3.4 points and 1.8 rebounds in 10.7 minutes per game while shooting 28.4% from beyond the arc, 40.8% from the floor overall, and 75.8% from the free throw line. That might scare Celtics fans for a first round selection, but Gonzalez is one of the best athletes in the draft, and has a motor to match his bounce.
Boston is never afraid to develop the shot of their young players, so this upside swing could be a brilliant gamble for the Celtics.
It also might frustrate fans of the team that some popular big men are still on the board, but they may yet be there for Boston when they select tomorrow night in the second round at No. 32 overall.

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Raptors-Celtics Trade Report Surfaces Before NBA Draft
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New York Times
2 hours ago
- New York Times
After big trades, Celtics become harbinger for the destruction of the second apron era
BOSTON — Brad Stevens knew the second apron was coming for the Boston Celtics. Any general manager is aware of the looming threat of the NBA's newest and meanest collective bargaining agreement foil. Knowing is one thing. Living it is an entirely different beast. 'I think the second apron basketball penalties are real, and I'm not sure I understood how real until they were staring me in the face in the last month,' Stevens said after the first round of Wednesday's NBA Draft. 'So I do think that that can't be overstated.' He thought he was ready for the pain of the second apron. But combing through his front office's plans in the Auerbach Center, where Jayson Tatum was beginning the long journey of rehabbing his torn Achilles, Stevens finally realized the gravity of the situation everyone in the NBA signed up for. JT since being drafted: ✅ All-Rookie First Team✅ All-Star Skills Challenge Champ✅ 12x Player of the Week✅ 5x Player of the Month✅ 6x All-Star✅ All-Star MVP✅ All-NBA Third Team✅ 4x All-NBA First Team✅ ECF MVP✅ NBA Champion — Boston Celtics (@celtics) June 24, 2025 The Celtics' president of basketball operations signed Jrue Holiday to a 4-year extension before the start of their title run just over a year ago, knowing those four extra years probably wouldn't be entirely in green. Everyone knew. It was an open secret that the Celtics would have to eventually get off some of the money they committed to their championship core. But they could've had more time to keep Holiday and Kristaps Porziņģis around, whom they offloaded in salary dumps before the draft this week. Advertisement Now his squad has earned the distinction of being the first championship team to be squeezed out of contention by the burden of the second apron. 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Salary dumps were analgesic, an austerity measure to alleviate ownership's wrist soreness every time they wrote another zero on the check heading to the league office. Then the first apron and hard cap machinations came into play, creating some limitations on cap creativity. The second apron erases all semblance of flexibility, which Stevens wanted back. Not that he had a choice. He had to get it back, as much for his front office to be able to do its job as to satiate the still-sore wallets of the new ownership group led by Bill Chisholm and, for three more years, longtime owner Wyc Grousbeck. Stevens couldn't stop saying the phrase 'regain our flexibility.' He said he was going to repeat it again and again. The second apron puts your front office in a straitjacket, and there's only one way out. Teams come together for special runs, and then age, attrition and an ever-evolving league knock them out of the spotlight quicker than they can anticipate. 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Whatever time it takes is what it takes. 'The biggest challenge for our team is our First Team All-NBA player is in a boot. That's No. 1, right?' Stevens said. 'So we know that going into next year. And then everything else is second to that as far as how we build, grow and improve as much as we can and over the course of time.' Stevens reiterated what he said after the somber end to the postseason: The goal is to compete for championships. That doesn't have a time frame attached to it. The moves the Celtics made this week were patently not to compete for the 2026 championship. That's to be expected. Stevens said after the draft last season that his goal was to keep the franchise competitive over the next 10 years, trying to smooth out the inevitable valleys it will face along the way. Some people said the Celtics had a decade of competitiveness ahead of them. They're saying the same thing about the new champs now. The Oklahoma City Thunder have three truly young stars to build around, allowing them to take on and send off role players over the coming decades to keep Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren safe from the specter of the second apron. Advertisement Boston wasn't in that position and certainly isn't anymore. Brown will be 29 this season, Derrick White turns 31 on July 2, and Payton Pritchard and Sam Hauser will turn 28 before the playoffs. The window is still there for a little while, but windows slam shut under the weight of the second apron. The league will look to see how Boston handles the first true blow of the latest CBA. It will be instructional for the other teams who are heading toward the same fate. Stevens managed to get in the clear without paying a price beyond sacrificing Holiday and Porziņģis. Maybe Anfernee Simons, who arrived from Portland for Holiday, will turn into something, whether it be as a productive starter or a valuable asset. 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Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Grade The Trade: Who Won The Jrue Holiday For Anfernee Simons Swap?
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