Luka Garza hasn't had many expectations placed on his shoulders in the NBA. He's never played more than 40 games in a season, has played under 1000 minutes total in four seasons, and has mostly seen the court in blowouts. That's going to change in a big way next month, as the Boston Celtics — now without Kristaps Porzingis and Al Horford — will likely ask Garza to play near-starter minutes every night on a team that should still compete for a playoff spot, whether fans want that or not.
The 26 year-old signed a two-year, $5.2 million, fully guaranteed contract with the Celtics this offseason. That's a minimum deal by average salary, but Brad Stevens and Co. wouldn't add that second year unless they actually foresee Garza playing a part on the Celtics during that time.
Will Garza be able to handle the responsibilities that will befall him? Better yet, should he even be tasked with them? He has struggled to crack a rotation in his NBA tenure so far, and a player going from the end of benches to a prominent role on a roster is a pretty big jump — and probably not a fair one to ask of Garza.
Luka Garza will be tasked with a lot for the Celtics
Maybe he surprises the basketball world and takes advantage of the expanded role. But if he doesn't, it seems unfair to blame him for that. The Celtics decided to give him this contract (and I'll always advocate for players getting paid) but he's going from the third-string center on the Wolves to a big piece of the new-look Celtics' puzzle, and there will be some bumps along the way. Simply put, the team is about to ask too much of a player who has yet to establish himself in an NBA rotation.
The center rotation will more than likely consist of Garza and Neemias Queta, who has played 90 games for the Celtics the past two years and likely has a leg up to start on opening night. Despite the injury to Jayson Tatum and the numerous trades made this offseason, the starting lineup is still pretty reliable outside of the center position.
Derrick White, Anfernee Simons, Jaylen Brown, and Sam Hauser are still a core four better than most other nuclei in the Eastern Conference, but the center position is the clear question mark for this team, and could determine whether they're on the inside looking out or vice versa when the postseason approaches.