NBA Draft 2021: A look at the 10 best Big Ten Basketball prospects

Luka Garza – Iowa – 6’11, 265 lbs – Senior – December 1998

The reigning Naismith Player of the Year can put up points, there’s no denying that. His combination of size, strength, and footwork made him difficult to guard in the low post. He also expanded his game to the perimeter, making 44% of his threes. He’s got a slow, two-motion, set-shot with high-arch, but a high release point makes it hard to block.

The questions don’t come on offense for Garza. Even against NBA-sized centers, his touch and footwork will produce points. But for as much as he scores, he projects to give up that many points at a minimum. Garza is slow, with heavy feet that make it nearly impossible to defend pick-and-rolls. Teams with plus guards (like Illinois and Oregon) were able to kill him on that end. Despite being 6’11, Garza is a poor vertical athlete. Combine that with deficient lateral movement skills, and Garza offers little as a rim protector.

For Garza to be optimized on an NBA floor, he needs to play with a four that can guard fives and protect the rim. But those are few and far between. Scalability is one of the biggest reasons why I wonder how Garza will succeed. For him to reach his value, the offense would need to be run through him. But the only types of centers that NBA offenses run through in today’s game are the elite, multi-faceted ones like Nikola Jokic or Joel Embiid.

Most backup centers don’t need the ball to provide value. Garza’s college statistical profile is enticing enough that he may get an opportunity, but he seems best suited for a career overseas.