NBA Comparison: Josh Harrellson

Strengths: A decorated winner and athlete at Iowa for four seasons leaving as the school’s all-time leading scorer … Two-time consensus All-American and Big Ten Player of the Year … Wooden Award, Naismith Award, and AP Player of the Year Winner in 2020-2021 … Smooth and fluid post-game with a wide variety of moves and soft touch around the rim … Works hard for second chances off of his own miss or off of other misses … Simply knows how to score by averaging 24 points per game during his final two seasons for the Hawkeyes … Has the ability to stretch the floor and knock down threes consistently and efficiently. He improved to a 44% shooter from beyond the arc on more than three attempts per game as a senior … His offensive versatility is one of the best in the draft for a big man with his ability to step out and hit threes but also completely dominate in the post like an old-fashioned center … Transformed his body after the season by slimming down in an attempt to improve his lateral quickness and footwork … Has shined in the pre-draft process to drastically improve his draft stock … Energy, work rate, intensity and all-around intangibles are unmatched as Garza will work his tail off every time he is on the floor … Experienced and polished player who should be able to contribute meaningful minutes immediately, which is something you do not always see from a player with a second round projection … Desire to improve and adapt to a changing style is evident from his offseason transformation and development into a stretch-five center. His coachability and high motor should provide a role for him for many years to come and he is as much of a sure thing as you can get from a second round selection …

Weaknesses: Garza is one of the older players in this draft as he will turn 23 in late December … Most of the questions about his game are his translatability from college to the NBA as he dominated on the interior and was able to simply sit in the paint most of the time on defense. He lost a ton of weight and slimmed down, but we have still yet to see him in real game action to see if his footwork and mobility has improved enough to defend at the next level … Teams could take advantage of his lack of defensive versatility and switchability by running ball screens with his man and forcing him to retreat back and/or switch onto a guard who could take advantage of his athleticism

Outlook: Averaged 24.1 PTS, 8.7 REB, 1.7 AST, and 1.5 BLK per game as a senior … 2-time Big Ten Player of the Year … 2-time Consensus All-American … AP Player of the Year … Wooden Award and Naismith Award Winner … Iowa’s all-time leading scorer … One of the most accomplished college basketball players of all time

Notes: Measured 6’10.0” barefoot, 6’11.25” in shoes 8’11.5” standing reach, 242.8 lbs, and 7’1.5” wingspan at the 2021 NBA Draft Combine …

Derek Bast 7/2921