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Boston Celtics player Luka Garza has named two Minnesota Timberwolves players who have shown him the blueprint for success.
The 26-year-old had a successful college career with Iowa, but it never really translated into the NBA.
Despite a few good performances when given the chance, Luka Garza has not managed to get into the NBA rotation throughout his career in the league.
He was drafted by the Detroit Pistons, then moved to the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2022 and played a total of 92 games in three seasons before moving to the Boston Celtics after the 2024-25 campaign.
With the number of frontcourt exits from the Celtics, Garza could finally get the chance he has been waiting for to prove himself.
Garza lauds Naz Reid and Nickeil Alexander-Walker for their success
Although Garza never managed to breach the 10-minute mark in his time with the Timberwolves, he was loved by all the players in the locker room.
He showed glimpses of brilliance in the limited minutes coach Chris Finch gave him, including a 16-point performance against the Utah Jazz in January 2025.
One of the reasons the Timberwolves struggled to get Garza on the court was because of how good their roster was.
Even players like Naz Reid and Nickeil Alexander-Walker struggled to find minutes initially, but as their game improved, they became a key part of the Timberwolves rotation.
Speaking about how the two players showed him the way to success, Garza said: “Nickeil and Naz, they just gave me a blueprint that I saw in front of me.”
“Naz was with me, when I first got there, and we had just done the Rudy trade, the first couple of games a year, he was sitting right next to me getting DNPs.
“Obviously everyone knows what happened after that, and that’ll never happen to him again.”
He further explained Alexander-Walker’s journey into becoming a key player and how it has all helped him to understand the route to success.
“That’s my goal, is to put myself in that position. And the same thing with Nickeil, when he got to us, who knows what his future was in the league, but he took advantage of the opportunities that were there, obviously just got paid this summer.
“I’ve seen the blueprint, and I’ve been around so many amazing guys, coaches, staff, all of that. So it’s kind of just using all those examples to fuel me and to learn from the last couple of years,” Garza added.
Garza could add to the Celtics’ frontcourt depth
The Celtics lost Kristaps Porzingis early in the offseason and are also soon going to have to part ways with veteran center Al Horford.
Both of these players could shoot threes and also defend at an elite level, making the Celtics an extremely difficult side to beat.
With both of them gone, the Celtics will be shorthanded in the frontcourt, giving Garza a chance to prove himself as a valuable NBA player.
He has never been a confirmed rotation player, and this might be a huge jump for him, but as someone who showed out in college, Garza certainly has the talent.
| Position | Player Name |
| Point Guard | Payton Pritchard |
| Shooting Guard | Anfernee Simons |
| Small Forward | Jaylen Brown |
| Power Forward | Sam Hauser |
| Center | Neemias Queta |
Aside from him, the Celtics are relying on Neemias Queta, who is confident of taking the big step as a key player, and on Xavier Tillman. But Joe Mazzulla will try out a lot of lineup variations before the start of the regular season.
Reports suggest Payton Pritchard and new player Anfernee Simons will be the preferred backcourt duo, but as far as the frontcourt is concerned, there are not a lot of guarantees.
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