NBA Summer League starts on August 3rd and fans of the Detroit Pistons couldn’t be more excited to see Cade Cunningham, Luka Garza, Isaiah Livers and the rest of the Pistons’ young players show what they can do.
The Pistons kick off on August 8th and will be one of the focal points of the event, as they not only have the number one pick and potential superstar, but a cast of talented young players that should give them one of the best teams in Las Vegas.
One of the most interesting subplots for the Detroit Pistons will be whether second-round pick Luka Garza can make an impression and possibly win a roster spot.
Garza was chosen 52nd, which makes him a long shot, but he was also the consensus NCAA player of the year and is ready to show it will translate to the next level.
Summer League is a time of hope, but it’s often misplaced, which leads to what I like to call the Summer League Legend.
Detroit Pistons: Luka Garza and the myth of Summer League
Every single season there are a few players who blow up in Summer League, make the fans believe they’ve found the next big thing, and then promptly disappear.
Pistons’ fans are all too familiar with this narrative, as we did it every season in a desperate attempt to find some reason to care about a mediocre roster.
Guys like Jordan Bone, Henry Ellenson, Michael Gbinije, Darren Hilliard, Kim English and Peyton Siva all became Summer League legends after having some big games in Vegas, which led to a lot of misplaced hope and arguments on social media.
I think there are still Pistons’ fans who think Peyton Siva should be the backup point guard.
Most of these guys had their big Summer Leagues and then promptly disappeared. While I don’t know what will happen with Luka Garza, and hope he turns into a quality player, I have my suspicions that he could be the next on this list.
Detroit Pistons: Luka Garza will dominate Summer League
Garza has the right combination of age, experience and skill to be a Summer League legend.
Most of the players in Summer League are rookies, many of them coming from one year of college. There is a ton of raw talent, prospects and guys who were taken in the second-round of the NBA Draft.
Luka Garza played all four years of college, is 22-years-old and already has a pretty polished game, so he should be ahead of many of the players who are in the Summer League.
He’s a smart player with a high basketball I.Q. and a high level of offensive skill. There isn’t much defense in the Summer League, so guys like Garza tend to dominate without the nuisance of real NBA defenders trying to stop them.
This can lead to some big scoring games and I expect Garza to have a few himself, which will undoubtedly send Pistons’ Twitter into a frenzy of fawning for Troy Weaver’s genius at finding a steal in the second round.
Will that success translate to a roster spot and minutes for the Detroit Pistons? I hope so, but history tells us not to put too much stock in Summer League numbers.
Detroit Pistons: Luka Garza has something to prove in Summer League
Luka Garza has plenty of doubters, which is why he went so late in the second round of the NBA Draft after being one of the best college players of the last 20 years.
I put him on my list of NBA Draft prospects to avoid, mostly because I think he’ll have a difficult time defending quicker and more athletic players in the NBA.
Of course, that has been said of a lot of guys who ended up succeeding, so I am pulling for Garza to prove all of the doubters wrong.
He’s going to enter Summer League with a chip on his shoulder, ready to make all the NBA writers eat their words, which could lead to some big games.
Guys like Cade Cunningham aren’t trying to make the team, they are the potential superstars that teams are trying to build around, so there is no real pressure to perform or expectation that they will play big minutes.
Garza doesn’t have that luxury, as his roster spot is not guaranteed, so he needs to prove himself and will be doing it against guys who are younger and often less developed as players.
All signs point to Luka Garza being the next Summer League legend, but I hope it doesn’t end there, as I’d love to see him prove everyone wrong and be a solid NBA player for the Detroit Pistons.