Before Giannis Antetokounmpo was traded to the Miami Heat, the Boston Celtics were one of the teams believed to have been involved in trade talks with the Milwaukee Bucks. Amidst the chatter was what the framework of a potential Celtics’ trade package would look like. Hugo Gonzalez, arguably the Celtics’ top young player, saw his name appear in trade rumors as speculation rose as to whether or not he would actually be included in a deal.

Speaking about the trade rumors that swirled earlier in the offseason, Hugo Gonzalez was adamant that it didn’t really bother him as that’s simply what comes with the territory of being in the NBA, as per Bobby Manning of CLNS Media.

“I mean, it’s just something that you know when you’re going to the NBA, you know that you can get traded,” Gonzalez said. “I wouldn’t be the first person to get traded or the last person to get traded. Something that you got to know when you get to the NBA, when you get to the league, is that your contract can be traded, it’s part of the business, too. So you got to realize that you can’t control it.”

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The No. 28 overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, the Celtics are very high on Gonzalez’s potential, and that’s why there was a huge discussion as to if the team was actually willing to trade him, even it meant missing out on Antetokounmpo.

He appeared in 74 games as a rookie, including three starts, at a little over 14 minutes per game. He averaged 3.9 points and 3.3 rebounds with splits of 47.6 percent shooting from the field, 36.2 percent shooting from the 3-point line and 50 percent shooting from the free-throw line.