After 12 days in Las Vegas, the Celtics left Summer League with a 3-2 record, though their final game was more of a controlled run-through than a true contest. By then, Boston had already been knocked out of the playoffs, and head coach Amile Jefferson leaned heavily on the deep bench.
Still, the trip gave the Celtics a real look at a few young players who mattered most in this setting: Hugo Gonzalez, Dillon Mitchell and Amari Williams. And if you want to judge Summer League the way front offices often do, the cleanest way is to think in terms of stock.
Who helped himself? Who left a stronger impression?
For Boston, the answer starts with Gonzalez.
Hugo Gonzalez came out of Vegas with his value clearly on the rise. In fact, the jump felt less like a surprise and more like confirmation.
The ball-handling was the biggest reason. He showed he can, or at least eventually could, handle the job of running an NBA offense, and Boston looked better when the ball was in his hands.
That wasn’t new territory for him. In the two games before Summer League, Gonzalez had already shown that same comfort for Spain in FIBA play.
He also flashed enough last season in NBA minutes to suggest he can rebound and defend at a level that translates. The rough edges were there too: turnovers popped up, and he wasn’t consistently creating clean looks for himself.
But at 20 years old, he still showed enough to make it easy to see the next step coming.
Dillon Mitchell also left Vegas with his stock climbing, and there’s a strong case that his game will fit the NBA right away. The appeal is in the details. He has a feel for where the ball is going, whether that means crashing the offensive glass, jumping a passing lane, or timing a cut just right on offense.
His defense stood out just as much. Mitchell bothered ball-handlers at the point of attack and still had the athletic pop to rotate over and erase shots at the rim. That kind of versatility is hard to find, especially in a player with his size and burst.
There was more to like on offense, too. He moved the ball well when the play called for it, and the 3-point shot looked far cleaner than it did in college, where he was 1-of-15 last year.
In Vegas, he went 3-of-8. He also showed some ability to create inside the arc.
Put it all together, and Mitchell looked like the kind of role player Joe Mazzulla will want on his roster. He was the No. 40 pick, so nothing is guaranteed, but it would be a real surprise if he isn’t earning regular rotation minutes for Boston in the next few years, maybe even this season.
Chris Cenac Jr. also helped himself. His Summer League showing didn’t feel as definitive as Mitchell’s, but it was enough to lift the impression he already had coming out of the draft.
The rebounding showed up immediately. Cenac was active on the glass and seemed to get a hand on the ball no matter where it was.
He also flashed a little more on offense than expected. There was a crossover out of the corner into a baseline drive for a bucket, plus a mid-range turnaround pull-up. For a near-seven-footer, that kind of comfort with the ball is not something you see every day.
The biggest boost came on defense. At Houston, he was asked to prioritize rebounding under Kelvin Sampson, so the block numbers never really told the full story.
In Vegas, though, Cenac looked like a shot-blocking force. His quick feet added another layer, giving him the look of a switchable defender who can still protect the rim.
That’s a rare combination, even if he still has plenty of work ahead to turn it into something real.
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