Luka Garza is entering the final year of his two-year deal with the Celtics as the NBA season opens, putting his next move on the same timeline as his next minutes. He is coming off the best scoring season of his career, but his role is not guaranteed to stay the same.
That is why Garza is being searched now. He averaged a career-high 8.1 points and 4.1 rebounds per game last season, while shooting 57.7 percent from the field and 43.3 percent from beyond the arc. Those numbers gave the Celtics a useful frontcourt option, especially after he spent his first four years with Detroit and Minnesota before landing in Boston.
Garza's path back into a steady NBA role has been built on efficiency and patience. He has been described as a former NCAA Player of the Year who revived his career after being buried on Minnesota's depth chart and not having his contract renewed after the 2024-2025 season. The deal he signed with the Celtics gave him another chance, and last season he showed he could make it count.
The problem now is that the roster around him has changed. Garza's playing time could take a hit with Mitchell Robinson on the roster, which makes this season less about what he proved a year ago and more about how much room there is for him to keep proving it. If his minutes shrink, the contract year becomes a test of whether last season was a step forward or just the peak of a short window.
For Garza, the next answer is simple and immediate: how much the Celtics want his scoring and shooting to matter once the rotation tightens. The numbers from last season are already in the books. What comes next is whether they still buy him the same place on the floor.
