Very rarely are Wooden Award winners with two straight conference Player of the Year awards to their name regarded as a second-round pick that might struggle to get drafted, but that is exactly where Garza finds himself after a season at Iowa that still left some questions about his pro projection.
Garza averaged 24.1 points, third-highest in the country, and 8.7 rebounds per game, making him one of the most accomplished big men in recent college basketball history. Garza can finish at the rim, back down defenders, and shoot the ball from deep. He’s perfect second-round gamble material.
Toronto Raptors mock draft: Luka Garza has plenty of offensive potential.
Defense will be Garza’s Achilles heel. he’s much too slow to defend any quicker interior player, and he’s not strong enough to continuously assert his will on that side of the ball. We’ve seen prolific college bigs with a limited athletic profile flounder time and time again, and Garza could be the next in line.
The Raptors could help him develop enough of an interior game to survive in the pros. At the very least, he could be the multi-faceted big man that the Raptors didn’t have this season. If nurtured properly, Garza could end up as one of the steals of the draft, and Toronto could be a good place for him.