Hugo Gonzalez Is Not Making the Most of His Opportunities

Early this season, we questioned Hugo Gonzalez’s decision to spend his final pre-draft season with Real Madrid - a club that prioritizes winning at the highest level of basketball outside the NBA over player development. We wondered if Gonzalez might have some playing time guarantees, and early in the season, it was obvious that wasn’t the case as he was largely stuck on the bench.

In the new year, as Real Madrid has failed to establish themselves as a EuroLeague contender and instead focuses on retaining their Liga ACB title (the Copa Del Rey championship defeat against Malaga rang alarm bells with Los Blancos), Gonzalez has seen more regular minutes, especially since late January onward. His lack of playing time has certainly led to a drop in his draft stock as collegiate players have easily taken over both him and Nolan Traore in draft boards, and so has fellow international prospect Joan Beringer, who has been anchoring a EuroCup defense.

In the seven games Real Madrid has played since February, Gonzalez has averaged 12.6 minutes per game across all Spanish competitions (Liga ACB and the in-season Copa Del Rey tournament). This is an increase in his season average of 10.4 minutes per game across all competitions, but it hasn’t yielded better performance. Gonzalez is averaging 4.14 points, 1.86 rebounds, 0.86 assists, 0.43 turnovers, and 0.14 blocks on 42/18/100 shooting splits in those seven games.

As he has for most of this season, Gonzalez has not quite looked ready to be a full-time professional basketball player. He mostly cements himself in safe parts of the offense, standing in the corner or on the wing. When the ball does find him, he may try to capitalize on a catch and shoot opportunity or put the ball on the floor too quickly without evaluating how the defense around him is moving.

He has also looked frustrated by his level of play, which is generally good, but it has turned into him trying to force transition scoring opportunities for himself. His strength and explosiveness were a massive advantage over his peers in youth play, but at the professional level, plenty of bodies out there can hang with him, and thus, his transition play is largely average.

Gonzalez remained in the lottery range on many Big Boards and mock drafts that came out this month. Many believe his current role, a mostly uneventful one, is what Real Madrid - a team loaded with NBA-level talent - want him to do. And that his ability to accept being a scrappy role player is a good sign for his mentality towards effort and winning. There are also arguments that his upside - shooting and self-creation in particular - will return throughout his professional development. He may not dominate the way he did in youth tournaments, but the skill level is there. It’s just a matter of time.

Those things could all be true, and Gonzalez could be capable of more than he’s shown this season, and it’s likely that he is. But in a draft class as good as this one, there are plenty of players who have walked the walk, and that is probably a safer bet than Gonzalez’s potential upside. There is time for him to have a big game or two and potentially change his outlook for the draft, but right now, a lottery pick feels high.

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