![\"Luka](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2256925341-e1775546323419.jpg\")
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Luka Garza, Boston Celtics<\/p>\n
Luka Garza joined the Boston Celtics<\/a> as a free agent this past summer. He\u2019d spent the past three years buried on the Minnesota Timberwolves<\/a> bench, primarily due to the talent Chris Finch had at his disposal.<\/p>\n Since arriving in Boston, Garza has carved out a role within Joe Mazzulla\u2019s bench unit. He\u2019s proven himself to be an elite screener, quality rebounder and reliable threat from deep.<\/p>\n However, Garza\u2019s role and minutes took a hit when Brad Stevens acquired Nikola Vucevic from the Chicago Bulls<\/a> at the Feb. 5 trade deadline. Yet, when Vucevic went down for 14 games with a fractured finger on his right hand, Garza stepped back into the rotation, proving himself capable of being an impactful center in the NBA<\/a>.<\/p>\n Now that Vucevic has recovered from his injury, Garza\u2019s minutes are projected to be sporadic. He was a DNP-CD during Boston\u2019s 115-101 win over the Toronto Raptors<\/a> on Sunday.<\/p>\n According to Luka\u2019s dad, Frank Garza, the fifth-year big man remains committed to the Celtics, as he looks to repay the faith Brad Stevens and Mazzulla have shown in him.<\/p>\n \u201cIn our family, there\u2019s such a thing as unconditional commitment,\u201d Frank Garza told Heavy on Sports. \u201cThere are no conditions. We\u2019re unconditionally committed to winning for this city, for his teammates, for his coach, for Brad. They gave him the shot.\u201d<\/p>\n Boston is the first team to give Garza a legitimate shot at proving himself in the NBA. Earlier this season, he surpassed the total minutes he\u2019d played in his previous four years in the league combined.<\/p>\n Luka Garza Is Commited To The Boston Celtics<\/p>\n Garza and Vucevic have similar talents on the court. They\u2019re both stretch fives who can score across all three levels, they\u2019re both talented rebounders, and they both operate as drop coverage defenders.<\/p>\n With that in mind, Garza is making the best of his current situation by turning his time with Vucevic into a learning experience, rather than stressing over playing time.<\/p>\n \u201cSo, Luka and Vooch talk a lot,\u201d Frank Garza told Heavy on Sports. \u201cYou ask him, \u2018Hey, what would you do against his team? You\u2019ve been in the league so long. You\u2019re this and that. You\u2019re an All-Star. We\u2019re so happy for that.\u201d<\/p>\n If Garza can develop his game by learning from Vucevic, then both he and the Celtics will be better for it. Furthermore, Garza has another year left<\/a> on his contract with the Celtics.<\/p>\n If he continues to improve his game, remains committed to pushing for success, and finds a way to continually earn playing time, he could emerge as Boston\u2019s long-term backup big man.<\/p>\n Celtics Have A Nikola Vucevic Decision<\/p>\n Vucevic is in the final year of his contract<\/a>. He will become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season. With Neemias Queta, Garza and Amari Williams all under contract for next season, Brad Stevens must decide if keeping Vucevic beyond this campaign is both viable and necessary.<\/p>\n A lot will likely depend on how impactful Vucevic is during the upcoming postseason run, and whether he\u2019s willing to accept a team-friendly deal. Regardless of how things play out with Vucevic, Garza will undoubtedly hope to build on this season and continue forging his path in the NBA.<\/p>\n He\u2019s already proved he\u2019s capable. The next step is earning a consistent role within the rotation for a full season and playoff run.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tAdam Taylor<\/a> is a basketball reporter covering the Boston Celtics, Los Angeles Lakers, Golden State Warriors, New York Knicks and Miami Heat for Heavy. He holds bylines for CelticsBlog, USA Today and Yardbarker. Adam also covers the WWE and AEW. He has a bachelor\u2019s degree in creative writing from Open University. More about Adam Taylor<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMore Heavy on Celtics\n\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty Luka Garza, Boston Celtics Luka Garza joined the Boston Celtics as a free agent this past summer.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":702858,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3766],"tags":[7,45,75,3798,46,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-702857","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-boston-celtics","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-boston","10":"tag-boston-celtics","11":"tag-bostonceltics","12":"tag-celtics","13":"tag-nba"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116362296950513377","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/702857","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=702857"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/702857\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/702858"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=702857"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=702857"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=702857"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}