Over the summer, the first free agent that President of Basketball Operations Brad Stevens went out and got was Luka Garza. His addition may not have softened the blow of losing Kristaps Porzingis and then Luke Kornet and finally Al Horford, but he’s received rave reviews in pre-training camp runs and seems a good fit in Boston’s faster playstyle.
“It’s playing fast and playing smart at the same time and seeing the actions,” Garza said after the Celtics first official practice on Tuesday. “It’s not just chuck it and shoot it with twenty seconds on the shot clock. It’s trying to get into the actions early so you can get looks earlier and if it’s not there, then you go into the second action and third action. Everything you do is at a fast pace.”
On Day 1, Garza is already clear what his role is: get the scorers and playmakers into advantageous positions. He’s talked openly about freeing up Jaylen Brown, Payton Pritchard, Derrick White, and Anfernee Simons. I that gets him some opportunities to score as a rim runner or popping out for three, so be it, but he recognizes this as a good chance to make his first professional mark in the NBA.
Garza has played less than a thousand minutes over four seasons in Detroit and Minnesota. It’s not exactly the career you’d imagine for the former 2021 National Player of the Year.
“It’s been an experience. It’s been a lot of ups and downs. It’s definitely tested me mentally, especially with my confidence coming in. It was a high almost and then getting humbled right away,” Garza said. “I think it was good for me, good for my career, good for me as a human to kind of go through that. It’s all about timing and this opportunity came at the perfect time for me.”
Despite Boston being his third NBA city, there’s some familiarity for him in the locker room. He battled Xavier Tillman Sr. in high school and the Big Ten. He squared up against Neemias Queta in pre-draft workouts. He cut his teeth with Timberwolves and now Celtics teammate Josh Minott with the G League Iowa Wolves.
But after signing a guaranteed two-year, $5.2 million contract this summer and the Celtics frontcourt unsettled, Garza knows this could be his best chance to prove himself. “This is definitely the most detailed place I’ve ever been. A lot of the things we do, the structure, is a lot more detailed,” Garza said. “I love that and it’s been really fun to be here and learn.”
