The NBA Rookie Who Breaks the Box Score

Advanced metrics love Boston's unheralded first-round pick

Hugo González contests Luka Dončić. (Luiza Moraes/Getty Images)

If we were guessing the NBA players with the best net rating this season, we’d probably point toward Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Nikola Jokić.

But the top two are actually OKC guard Ajay Mitchell and a rookie — Boston Celtics wing Hugo González, the 28th pick in the draft.

What’s more, in the past three decades, only eight players have posted a better net rating than González.¹

Is González anywhere close to this good? Or is he just getting lucky?

Let’s go to the tape and figure out how González is doing it.