With the 52nd pick in the 2021 NBA Draft, the Detroit Pistons selected Luka Garza, center from the University of Iowa.
The 22-year-old Garza comes to the Pistons after spending four years as the starting center for the Iowa Hawkeyes. Garza was a dominant big man in college. In his four years, Garza averaged 18.2 points and 7.3 rebounds in 27.1 minutes per game. In his senior year, the center tallied 24.1 points per game, his collegiate career-high.
Along with his career-high scoring output, Garza also put up his best three-point shooting numbers in his senior year. The big man shot 44 percent from beyond the arc on 3.2 attempts per game in his final season with the Hawkeyes.
Garza is looking to translate his three-point shooting into the NBA. One need not look any further than the father of the 22-year-old’s Twitter account to see the work Garza is putting in on his outside shot.
Detroit Pistons: Luka Garza should model his game on Brook Lopez
The big man’s ability to stretch the floor will be key to his playing future. In the modern NBA, having centers and power forwards who can stretch the floor is becoming more and more of a necessity for rosters.
Take Brook Lopez for example. For the first eight years of the veteran center’s career, he never averaged above 0.2 three-point attempts in a single season. One of those seasons, 2012-12 included an All-Star appearance.
As the tides of the NBA turned away from post play and towards the stretch big, Lopez adjusted. Since the 2016-17 season, the 33-year-old has averaged five shots from beyond the arc per game, sinking 34.4 percent of them.
Like Lopez, Garza is not going to find his success as a post player in today’s NBA. The three-point era simply does not allow for it.
As Garza develops and fights for a roster spot with the Pistons, the big man is going to show off his shooting abilities from beyond the arc. And he will find no better way to show off his shooting than at the Summer League.
Detroit Pistons: Luka Garza showed promise in his Summer League debut
Now is not the time to overreact to Summer League performances, especially when the sample size is just a single game. The Summer League is not a place to judge the entire outlook of a player’s career. The league is simply a means of allowing prospects to show what they can do and develop.
In his chance to show what he could do, Garza did just that. The 22-year-old played in 13 minutes in his first taste of Summer League action and he made the most of it. Garza went three for five from the field and knocked down two of his four free-throw attempts. The big man finished the game with nine points and four rebounds, all of which came as offensive boards.
Garza only managed to drop one of his three shots from beyond the arc. The one he did make came from the top of the key on a pick-and-pop with Saben Lee. Garza’s stroke was fluid and clean. His form on his two missed threes also looked good, but the big man was simply unable to get them to drop.
The 22-year-old also looked quicker than he did in college. Garza reportedly lost 30 pounds over the offseason and brought his playing weight down to 246 pounds. That weight loss appears to have done the big man a service as he does look slightly quicker. While his lateral quickness will still be a point of concern for Garza, his efforts to counteract his limitations will still make a difference, even if just marginal.
Garza was simply a high-energy guy for Detroit in their first summer league game. The 22-year-old came off the bench and played hard for the Pistons. He held his own in the post on the defensive end. Against smaller guards, he was not completely outmatched, although he mostly met them in the paint where his lateral quickness would not be as much of a liability.
On offense, the big man moved well to find open looks at the basket, and he also attacked the boards well.
Garza has put in a lot of work this offseason. From serious weight loss to consistent development of his three-point shot, the big man has put the effort into making Detroit’s roster this fall. Unfortunately for Garza, his efforts will most likely not result in a permanent spot on Detroit’s NBA roster. Fortunately for the young center, he will get plenty of opportunities with the Pistons on a two-way contract.
Detroit Pistons: Luka Garza could become Detroit’s future backup center
Garza’s place in Detroit will be on a two-way contract in 2020-21. It comes as no surprise for a late second-round pick.
Detroit has a lot of depth in their frontcourt right now. At the center position, the Pistons have their starter in Isaiah Stewart and their reserves in Kelly Olynyk and Jahlil Okafor. Garza does not really fit into Detroit’s 15 man roster quite yet.
The big man will have plenty of opportunities to develop his game with the Pistons’ G-League affiliate the Motor City Cruise. With the Cruise, Garza can continue to work on his three-point shot and build his body for the rigors of the NBA season.
When the young prospect is brought up to the Pistons roster for a game or two, he will have the opportunity to take his development in the G-League and apply it at the NBA level. The big man will benefit greatly from a year in the G-League, and he could be ready to fill a full-time NBA roster spot by his sophomore season.
By his second year in the league rolls around, Okafor’s contract with Detroit will have expired. Garza will have the opportunity to compete for the roster spot formerly occupied by Okafor.
In that time it is entirely plausible that Garza still splits his time between the G-League and the Pistons. Olynyk will still garner the backup center minutes behind Stewart, so it would be wise for the Pistons to give Garza playing time with the Cruise in the meantime.
By year three, Olynyk’s contract will have only $3 million guaranteed, and the veteran big man’s contract would be a primary option to waive in order to clear cap space. It is year three where Garza would truly have his chance to earn the backup center spot behind Stewart. This opportunity only comes if Garza continues to develop into an NBA-caliber center.
Garza will still have his limitations due to his below-average lateral quickness. The potential for him to be exposed if he is forced to switch onto guards at the perimeter is ever-present. But the hope is that the big man will be able to develop well enough to reduce these limitations on his game.
In the end, what will really put Garza onto an NBA roster is his three-point shooting. Stretchability is a coveted trait in modern NBA big men. If Garza can shoot well from beyond the arc in his NBA career, he will find it much easier to stick around in this league.
As Garza goes through the growing pains of a young center in the NBA, his three-point shot will always be an aspect of his game he can lean on.