For the past several years, the Boston Celtics have had a strong presence in the paint. Centers like Al Horford, Robert Williams III, Kristaps Porzingis, and Luke Kornet have given Boston plenty of strong minutes down low.
Things are going to be different in the upcoming season. Porzingis, Horford, and Kornet will all be playing their basketball elsewhere while Boston relies on Neemias Queta and newly acquired bigs Luka Garza and Chris Boucher to take on the majority of the center minutes.
Garza, a free agent signing from the Minnesota Timberwolves is particularly interesting. The four-year veteran out of Iowa hasn’t seen consistent playing time as a pro just yet.
He averaged just 6.3 minutes per game with Minnesota, which left him little time to make an impact. Things won’t be entirely different for him in Boston. He’s still expected to be Queta’s back-up -- a role that may be perfectly suited for him.
Well, the back-up part. Queta’s presence is irrelevant to the point.
What's the intrigue with Luka Garza?
Garza’s size and ability to stretch the floor makes him an intriguing upside player for the Celtics going forward. Although, there may be some growing pains along the way. Garza has yet to knock down threes consistently as a pro, despite his clean shooting form. His career mark of 31.4% from long range isn’t reliable but apparently was good enough for Boston to believe he can develop as a marksman.
"We were looking for those guys on those contracts that have upside, and who are competitors, who are workers, who want to be good and haven't hit their peak yet, but we've seen something in them that gives them a chance to be very impactful," President of Basketball Operations Brad Stevens said of Garza and Josh Minott back in July.
The question remains whether or not Garza will thrive with added opportunity. His per-36 stats say so. Last season, the 26-year-old averaged 22.0 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 2.5 assists per 36 minutes.
"Luka obviously has been a stats darling, but in limited time behind very, very good players,” Stevens continued.
Those numbers should be taken with a grain of salt, as Stevens alludes to, but they clearly support his vision for the big man.
The current goal of Boston’s front office should be to field the best team once Jayson Tatum fully recovers from his ruptured Achilles. Part of doing that is finding quality players who are on team-friendly deals. Fans learned how deadly the new CBA is this summer, when the Celtics had to shed enough salary to dive below the second-apron threshold.
From what Stevens said of Garza, there’s hope that he can be one of those bargain players. Even so, he’ll be best suited as a back-up who thrives in short minutes. If Garza were some superstar in the making, he likely would’ve seen time in the past. His defensive limitations have held him back to this point, but maybe he can improve enough during his tenure in Boston to become a solid rotation piece on a great team.