If you’re looking for the rookie who's quietly making the biggest winning impact in the NBA this season, look no further than Boston’s Hugo Gonzalez. He’s not just leading all rookies in plus-minus - he’s lapping the field.
At +219, Gonzalez is comfortably ahead of second-place Dylan Harper, who sits at +96. That’s not a small gap.
That’s a canyon.
Now, plus-minus can be noisy. It’s not always the most precise way to measure individual performance, especially for rookies who aren’t high-usage guys. But in this case, it backs up what the eye test and advanced metrics are already telling us: Gonzalez is helping the Celtics win games - a lot of them - when he’s on the floor.
According to databallr.com, Boston is a staggering 18.2 points per 100 possessions better with Gonzalez in the lineup compared to when he’s off. That’s not just good - that’s elite territory. Those kinds of on/off splits are rare for any player, let alone a 19-year-old rookie still getting his feet wet in the league.
So when the NBA unveiled the list of rookies selected for the 2026 Castrol Rising Stars Challenge, it would’ve made sense to see Gonzalez’s name included. But it wasn’t.
On the surface, the omission might seem justifiable. Gonzalez has logged only 609 minutes this season and is averaging 4.0 points per game.
Compare that to someone like Collin Murray-Boyles - another rookie who made the Rising Stars roster - who’s putting up 7.8 points per game over 798 minutes. That’s nearly double the scoring output with more playing time.
It’s easy to see why the league leaned toward more traditional box score production.
But here’s the thing: scoring isn’t the only way to impact a game. And when it comes to winning basketball, Gonzalez has arguably been the most impactful rookie in the league this season.
His defense is what jumps off the screen. He’s making reads and rotations that you just don’t expect from a first-year player.
His on-ball defense is already at a high level - he moves his feet well, stays in front of his man, and plays with discipline and awareness. Off the ball, he’s even more impressive, constantly disrupting passing lanes and rotating on time.
The advanced numbers back that up. Per Cleaning the Glass, Gonzalez ranks in the 73rd percentile at defending shots and in the 79th percentile in steal rate (1.9% of plays).
That’s rare air for a rookie wing. He is fouling at a high rate - 5.3%, which ranks fourth highest among NBA wings - but that’s to be expected from a 19-year-old still adjusting to the speed and physicality of the league.
What matters is that he’s already making high-level plays on defense and learning through reps.
And it’s not like he’s a zero on offense, either. Gonzalez is shooting 51% from the field and 39% from beyond the arc, with a 60% true shooting percentage.
He’s only taken 130 shots this season, so the volume isn’t there yet, but the efficiency is. When he shoots, it’s going in.
Bottom line: Hugo Gonzalez has been one of the 10 best rookies in the NBA this season. His combination of defensive impact, efficient shooting, and winning presence on the floor should’ve earned him a spot in the Rising Stars Challenge.
If you’re going to make a case for someone to be left off that roster, Collin Murray-Boyles or Nets guard Egor Dënim would be fair candidates. Gonzalez, the 28th overall pick, has already shown he’s not just a rotation player - he’s a winning player.
And that’s not always easy to find in Year 1.