We got Luka (Garza)!

[winforlose]

Isn’t he taller than JMAC? Siri says he is 6’1. Why isn’t he a two consideration? We badly need another PG.

Who said he's not under consideration?

Quoting Shrink “ but he is too small to ever play in the NBA.”

[minimus]

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I remember that game against LAL when Garza not only shoots well, but also showed that confidence and "swag". I would say that this is the most impressive thing about him so far. But he can definitely get better: he needs to continue develop his left hand, he needs to become better passer and I believe that absolutely can do it.

[winforlose]

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I remember that game against LAL when Garza not only shoots well, but also showed that confidence and "swag". I would say that this is the most impressive thing about him so far. But he can definitely get better: he needs to continue develop his left hand, he needs to become better passer and I believe that absolutely can do it.

His defense is terrible. He needs to learn to angles on defense. He also needs to rebound better in the paint.

That said, he is a 3 level scorer. He has more size and strength than Naz. He is a good free throw shooter. He is only 23, so he has plenty of time to improve and we haven’t seen his true ceiling yet.

[minimus]

Underrated

[minimus]

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I wonder if Garza is our best post scorer... He might be better than slim version of Towns.

[Neeva]

Play the man.

[TimberKat]

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I wonder if Garza is our best post scorer... He might be better than slim version of Towns.

I am wondering if he just take over Naz's minutes? Naz is not any better on D.

[minimus]

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I wonder if Garza is our best post scorer... He might be better than slim version of Towns.

I am wondering if he just take over Naz's minutes? Naz is not any better on D.

Luka and Reid should learn how to defend without fouling. It is annoying as hell.

[shrink]

So I have a question for people that have a better understanding of the physiology stuff than me. Can a mediocre athlete ever become a legit basketball player at the center position?

Luka Garza has two really good qualities. First, he comes to the NBA with tremendous mental preparation, he has high-level basketball players throughout his family, and he was raised for the NBA. His dad got videotape of all the greats, and had Luka working on all their post moves since he was a child.

Second, he is a relentless worker, on the court and off. In tenth grade, he was still an overweight kid that barely got noticed by Division 1 teams. In fact, the only reason Luka was seen back then was that he was playing (poorly) at an AAU competition that coaches weren’t allowed, but parents were, and Iowa’s coach McCaffrey had his son playing on another team! Garza did two-a-days, and three-a-days with his dad to improve his body, and even then, he only had the body to become the college Garza in his sophomore year.

Right now though, he has an engine and a brain, but not the body to compete against the better players in the NBA. He’s just too big and slow, and I know he’s putting in the work. Are there some players who simply can’t reach minimal levels of NBA athleticism, because they genetically have a low ceiling? Or is this something that eventually he can overcome? If this is the limit of Garza’s athleticism, can he ever be more than a G-League King, but NBA third center?

[Calinks]

So I have a question for people that have a better understanding of the physiology stuff than me. Can a mediocre athlete ever become a legit basketball player at the center position?

Luka Garza has two really good qualities. First, he comes to the NBA with tremendous mental preparation, he has high-level basketball players throughout his family, and he was raised for the NBA. His dad got videotape of all the greats, and had Luka working on all their post moves since he was a child.

Second, he is a relentless worker, on the court and off. In tenth grade, he was still an overweight kid that barely got noticed by Division 1 teams. In fact, the only reason Luka was seen back then was that he was playing (poorly) at an AAU competition that coaches weren’t allowed, but parents were, and Iowa’s coach McCaffrey had his son playing on another team! Garza did two-a-days, and three-a-days with his dad to improve his body, and even then, he only had the body to become the college Garza in his sophomore year.

Right now though, he has an engine and a brain, but not the body to compete against the better players in the NBA. He’s just too big and slow, and I know he’s putting in the work. Are there some players who simply can’t reach minimal levels of NBA athleticism, because they genetically have a low ceiling? Or is this something that eventually he can overcome? If this is the limit of Garza’s athleticism, can he ever be more than a G-League King, but NBA third center?

I think its possible if you have an ELITE level of understandings and skill. There are guys who were not the most athletic but their understand of the game and their own bodies was so remarkably high, they were very good players. Thos traits are even harder to find than great athletes though.

[A1FromDay1]

Definitely possible in theory. Even Chuck Hayes started 200+ games in the NBA at the Center position. I do believe in Garza, he could get to be a starter for some teams (not us in the near future) or at least a reliable backup. As Calinks said, the knowledge and feel he has for the game are harder to aquire than the physical aspects.

[younggunsmn]

If you look at how far Luka has come already, it's not hard to project him getting even leaner and improving his agility and explosiveness a bit.
To me, his lack of length is a bigger issue. But he has been very solid fundamentally, and his work ethic and attitude are off the charts.
He's very close to being a net positive on the court, right now.

If you look at how much Naz has transformed his body since he came into the league and added to his skillset each year I wouldn't write Luka off just yet. Yr 1 Naz had a similar body to Luka, but with a bit more length.

I don't think he will ever be a starting quality 5, but with some work I think he can definitely be a quality rotation player in this league.

[Klomp]

So I have a question for people that have a better understanding of the physiology stuff than me. Can a mediocre athlete ever become a legit basketball player at the center position?

Luka Garza has two really good qualities. First, he comes to the NBA with tremendous mental preparation, he has high-level basketball players throughout his family, and he was raised for the NBA. His dad got videotape of all the greats, and had Luka working on all their post moves since he was a child.

Second, he is a relentless worker, on the court and off. In tenth grade, he was still an overweight kid that barely got noticed by Division 1 teams. In fact, the only reason Luka was seen back then was that he was playing (poorly) at an AAU competition that coaches weren’t allowed, but parents were, and Iowa’s coach McCaffrey had his son playing on another team! Garza did two-a-days, and three-a-days with his dad to improve his body, and even then, he only had the body to become the college Garza in his sophomore year.

Right now though, he has an engine and a brain, but not the body to compete against the better players in the NBA. He’s just too big and slow, and I know he’s putting in the work. Are there some players who simply can’t reach minimal levels of NBA athleticism, because they genetically have a low ceiling? Or is this something that eventually he can overcome? If this is the limit of Garza’s athleticism, can he ever be more than a G-League King, but NBA third center?

I think the biggest difference right now is how the changing eras hinders his potential. He was born about 5-10 years too late. He could've gotten paid a la Gorgui Dieng, Marcin Gortat, Nikola Pekovic or Chris Kaman.

I don't know anymore if he can get to say regular starter upside due to those limitations. Can he play 10-12 minutes a game productively? He's already shown he can. But I'm not sure how much more he'll be able to give us.

[BlacJacMac]

He's clearly an NBA player on offense. But he still has a long ways to go on the other end. I was fortunate enough to see some of his longer stints in person and he misses a lot of defensive rotations. Sometimes he knows where to be and is too slow to get there, other times he seems lost in what to do.

I do think he can improve there. Its probably not something he was ever really asked to do before. And he's clearly a really hard worker and a bright kid.

I think he probably can be our 3rd Center next year - not our 3rd Big, but our 3rd Center.

[minimus]

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Call me crazy, but Garza offensive game reminds me Jokic. I even see Garza being good passer, because he made some high level reads. The difference is that Jokic is both mobile and big, this combination helps him being positive defender despite not being a rim protector. I hope we will keep him long-term.

[shrink]

One thing I find fascinating about Luka Garza is that he didn’t grow up like most NBA players, honing their games on the playgrounds and school gyms. Garza is from a basketball family, where his mom, dad, grandfather and two uncles all played high-level basketball. They had young Luka watching hours and hours of videotape, copying the best (offensive) moves of the best NBA players.

On top of this, Luka didn’t develop any athleticism until his senior year of high school. He was a smart, slow, pudgy big man, and he needed to work very hard to even have college-scholarship athleticism. And in his sophomore year with the help of his dad, he developed his body enough to be an adequate college athlete (still more hustle than genetics), which magnified what those offensive moves could do

I think we see this strange background when we watch Garza as a pro. If he gets the ball down low, he has a half dozen options, all with 15 years of pollish. However, you don’t learn defense that way, and you can’t get NBA athleticism from a video tape. I’m hopeful that he can close the gap, because that treasure trove of offensive moves gets magnified if he can develop the rest of his game.

[Klomp]

Ok, start the championship parade planning now…

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[andyhop]

So I have a question for people that have a better understanding of the physiology stuff than me. Can a mediocre athlete ever become a legit basketball player at the center position?

I think that brains ,basketball IQ ,ability to read play whatever you want to call it can overcome athletic deficiencies to a degree.

If you read the play well enough to get a couple of tenths headstart on getting to where you need to be it increases your effective athleticism

[younggunsmn]

Awesome to have Luka back on a 2 way.
Smart, great attitude, fundamentally sound, and skilled.

Can't believe he couldn't get at least a vet min offer.
He's not a great athlete but he is absolutely an NBA-level player.

So many roster spots taken right now by developmental projects who aren't NBA caliber yet ( we have 3 and possibly 4 with Moore, Minott, Miller, and 4 if Clarke gets a regular contract, which I doubt).

Absolute coup to get Luka on a 2 way who can fill in for KAT or Naz and play that role perfectly.
Opportunity later in the year to convert him to a regular contract to be playoff eligible if we keep the 15th roster spot open like I expect us to.
Should be active on gameday for any game KAT, Gobert, or Naz is out for.


Go get a developmental PG and a wing shooter for the other 2 ways.

[minimus]

Go get a developmental PG and a wing shooter for the other 2 ways.

Yeah, I think we will waive Matt Ryan and fill two other spots with someone like DJ Carton and Kok Yat