The overwhelming assumption for this offseason is that the Celtics need to improve their center position after falling short in round one of the playoffs. But this isn’t necessarily the case; they just need to make some adjustments. First and foremost, they never should have gone away from Luka Garza as the backup center.
Garza emerged as a rock-solid backup, but saw his role essentially disappear when Nikola Vucevic arrived via trade. Garza was out of the playoff rotation, only inserted due to foul trouble or whatever was going on in Game 7. But that made no sense.
Vooch was an awkward fit with the Celtics and never really got his game going on either end. Meanwhile, Garza had a historically great offensive season, finishing the year with 55 made threes on 127 attempts, good for 43.3%, the best percentage by any center in the league with at least 100 attempts. Beyond just the threes, Garza had a 68.2 true shooting percentage, which wasn’t only the best in the league for a center, but the second-best mark ever by a center, trailing only Nikola Jokic’s 2022-23 season.
And yet, apparently that wasn’t enough to convince Joe Mazzulla he should be playing over a washed-up Nikola Vucevic. Garza certainly had shortcomings, especially on the defensive end, but nothing worse than what Vooch was giving up.
Joe Mazzulla should trust Garza as his backup center
The past is the past, and we can’t go back and change Joe’s rotations, but this wrong can at least be righted going forward. Luka is back on a minimum deal next year, while Vucevic is set to be an unrestricted free agent. Last season was really the first time Garza has had a real shot at rotation minutes, and he crushed his role.
Boston should have him in the lab all offseason and should use him as a weapon next year alongside Neemias Queta. All this talk about needing a stretch big, and meanwhile, they’ve got a 6’10”, 243-pound, 27-year-old making the minimum salary sitting on the fringe of the rotation.
They should explore their options and bring in another big man to fight for minutes, but too many people are just dismissing Garza and the contributions he made this season. Even in the playoffs, though his minutes were extremely limited, he performed and shot well overall. He’s not going to be an All-Star any time soon, but he’s a more than capable backup center on a value contract. Brad Stevens and the Celtics should be looking to take advantage of this situation, not go out and change it.
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