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It’s all about Cade Cunningham and the promise his skills and talents bring over at the side of the Detroit Pistons. Selected first overall by the Pistons in the 2021 NBA Draft, Cunningham carries the burden of having to lead the franchise back to relevance. But don’t let the hype on Cunningham make you forget about Luka Garza, who’s been showing flashes of Dirk Nowitzki in the Summer League.
Garza was taken off the board by the Pistons in the second round of this year’ draft and while he’s not projected to be anywhere near close to the long-term value of Cunningham, he’s still earning the respect of the former Oklahoma State Cowboys star, per Omari Sanfoka II of the Detroit Free Press:
“He’s a confident guy, and that’s what we need,” Cade Cunningham said. “He’s so talented, he can get to pretty much any shot he wants to get to. Him playing with that confidence is what we like to see and what we need from him, and he brings a different spark with his energy whenever he’s getting things going. I loved to see that play. It was tough.”
Everyone knows Garza can score and he doubled down on that perception by scoring nine points in 13 minutes in the loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder in a Summer League game last Monday. He then followed that up by dropping 15 points in 16 minutes.
The challenge for Garza is to be a more impactful player defensively, which was seen as a weakness by scouts prior to the draft.