20-Year-Old Celtics Forward Says Jaylen Brown Was an ‘Every-Day’ Mentor Before the Trade

The Boston Celtics shocked a lot of people this summer when they shipped Jaylen Brown to the Philadelphia 76ers. It wasn’t just a big move. It was the kind of trade that reshapes a franchise’s identity overnight. Brown had been the backbone of Boston’s rise alongside Jayson Tatum, helping drag the Celtics to five Eastern Conference Finals, two NBA Finals, and one championship in 2024.

Now he’s gone. In return, the Celtics get Paul George, a 2028 first-round pick, a 2028 second-round pick, a 2030 second-round pick, and a 2031 first-round pick. That’s a lot of draft capital, but it also means the team is about to look very different.

Hugo Gonzalez, Boston’s 20-year-old reserve forward, isn’t blind to that. But the second-year player is mostly focused on what Brown meant to him personally. He talked about it with Celtics beat writer Noa Dalzell.

“It was just great to be around him on an every-day basis,” Gonzalez said. “He was able to pass on so much knowledge on what playing in the NBA is all about and I am so grateful to have been around him.”

Gonzalez isn’t wrong to feel that way. Brown averaged 28.7 points, 6.9 rebounds and 5.1 assists last season, earning his fifth All-Star nod and another All-NBA selection. For a rookie like Gonzalez, having that kind of player in the same locker room every day was basically a graduate-level course in pro basketball.

What This Means for Gonzalez

With Brown gone and Paul George coming in, the Celtics rotation is going to shift. George is older, still productive, but not the same two-way force he used to be. That could open up minutes on the wing for a guy like Gonzalez who played sparingly as a rookie but showed enough to stick around.

Boston’s playoff run ended ugly this year. They lost a seven-game first-round series to Philly, the same team that just acquired Brown. So now the Sixers get even stronger, and the Celtics are left to figure out how to compete with a retooled roster and a younger supporting cast.

Gonzalez knows his role is probably about to get bigger. He’s not a star. But he’s 20, long, and got a full season of NBA reps under his belt. If he can build on that, the Brown trade might end up being the thing that clears a real path for him.

Brown is gone. The legacy stays. And for one young forward, the lessons stick around too.