The Unconditional Commitment of Luka Garza

He's been one of the Celtics standout success stories this season

If we’re talking about surprise performers from this season, the Boston Celtics have a string of names to choose from. You can start with Neemias Queta or look toward Josh Minott (no longer with the team), Jordan Walsh and Hugo Gonzalez.

Or, you can dive into Luka Garza.

Garza came into the season with a lot on the line. Entering his fifth year in the league, the 6’10’’ big man had struggled to prove himself. His rookie year with the Detroit Pistons saw him play in 32 games before he headed out West to join the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Life didn’t get much easier for Garza in the following three years. To be fair, he was on a team that had Karl-Anthony Towns, Naz Reid, Rudy Gobert and Julius Randle (not all at the same time). Breaking into that front-court rotation, with that level of competition in front of you, is a monumental task.

“Luka just passed his entire minutes just two games ago that he’d ever played the previous four years in the NBA,” his dad, Frank Garza, told the Celtics Chronicle. “But they (Minnesota) had four deep. I mean, you had Randle, you named the other three, but now you have Julius Randle, a beast, and I mean that with the ultimate respect. He is unstoppable. When his will is aligned with what his body can do.”

Garza joined the Celtics at a time when Brad Stevens was making a string of roster moves. Kristaps Porzingis, Al Horford and Luke Kornet all left during the offseason. So, it was clear from the jump that Garza would have a clearer path to playing time if he could impress Joe Mazzulla and continue to improve throughout the season.

Turns out, both sides held up their end of the bargain.

We’ve seen Garza in 67 of Boston’s games this season. He’s putting up 7.7 points and 3.9 boards per game, spacing the floor with 44.1% shooting from three-point range.

It’s that three-point shooting that has set Garza apart this season, especially before the addition of Nikola Vucevic at the Feb. 5 trade deadline. His ability to run pick-and-pop, fade off screens and hit his catch-and-shoot looks at a high clip makes him the perfect complement to Queta’s rim-running skill set.

Garza has always flashed upside with his perimeter scoring, even throughout his four-year tenure in the Big Ten. However, it was a conversation with his dad, as his collegiate career was winding down, that led him to develop the other aspects necessary for a big man to thrive in a modern five-out offense.

“Now listen, here’s the big dude,” Frank said. “Won every reward, every award unanimously his senior year -- every one -- from Kareem to Pete Newell to all of them. Armstrong and Senior of the Year, all that stuff. To have his father and his (career) architect saying this won’t translate. And here we are today.”

"So what does he do?" Frank asked rhetorically.

“(He) transitioned into becoming an elite screener. To be so obsessed with getting Jaylen Brown open, (Payton) Pritchard, Sam (Hauser), now Jayson (Tatum), who’s an incredible passer off of that, as all of them are, to then becoming an elite offensive rebounder, building on his college career and then becoming an elite defender. And quick hands to deflect and get steals and block. I mean, he blocked Wemby’s shot ...”

You may wonder what led to such an honest conversation between father and son, yet in Frank’s mind, the reason was simple. “He had to change. I mean it was one of those, well what do we do (moments)?”

Development is never linear. It’s a cold fact of life. Sometimes, it takes months, others years, before you get to your destination. We’ve all experienced that fact in some way, shape or form throughout our lives.

So, for Garza, the past four years have been building him toward this opportunity. In return, he’s proven himself to be one of the best (and most physical) screeners in the NBA.

Most importantly, he’s begun to dispel the notion that he’s an awful defender — showcasing his mobility as a drop defender.

“This team is great at defense,” Frank said. “So, he’s surrounded by a team that takes pride in defense. They take pride in it, and they get upset if someone scores. You see that. So does the coach. ‘You scored on me, that’s not gonna happen again.’ And so, he’s benefited (from that).”

Unfortunately for Garza, his direct path to minutes took a hit when Vucevic came to town. When healthy, Vucevic has made that back-up big man role his own. As such, Garza is back to being patient, waiting his turn and working on his game outside of the limelight.

Nevertheless, it would appear that Garza (and those around him) are looking for the positives in the current situation. So, rather than feeling slighted by Vucevic’s arrival, Garza is looking to learn from the veteran big man, which in turn should help improve his own game moving forward.

“Luka and Vooch talk a lot,” Frank explained. “You ask him, ‘Hey, what would you do against this team? You’ve been in the league so long. You’re this and that. You’re an All-Star.’ We’re so happy for that.”

Currently, Vucevic’s contract is set to expire at the end of the season. He will become an unrestricted free agent at that point. Garza, however, has another year left on his deal. So, unless the Celtics opt to re-sign Vucevic in the summer, Boston’s emergent big man will have the opportunity to put everything he’s learning into practice.

If he does well, and finds a level of consistent production that benefits the team, his future in Boston could last far longer than one more season. We saw a similar trajectory with Luke Kornet — and even Neemy.

From Garza’s standpoint, remaining in Boston long-term would be the ideal way for things to play out. Honestly — that would probably still be the case even if Vucevic does come back for another run with the team.

Why, I hear you ask?

“In our family, there’s such a thing as unconditional commitment,” Frank said. “There are no conditions. We’re unconditionally committed to winning for this city, for his teammates, for his coach, for Brad. They gave him the shot.”

…If you want to watch the interview in its entirety, you can do so on YouTube; the video is embedded below.

Full disclaimer: This newsletter was supposed to be set out yesterday. I wrote it, did all the good stuff, and then woke up this morning to find the tab still open and the newsletter sitting there unsent.

So, to avoid flooding your inboxes, I’m sending this today, and we’ll look at the Hornets game tomorrow. My apologies.