Iowa Professional Athletes

Iowa fans have never had more reason to follow the NBA. Three weeks into the 2026-27 season, three Hawkeyes — Luka Garza in Boston, Keegan Murray in Sacramento, and Bennett Stirtz in Oklahoma City — are carving out very different early chapters.

Garza Drawing Trade Interest

The most intriguing Iowa storyline sits in Boston, where Luka Garza is apparently valuable enough that rival front offices are already circling. Bleacher Report's Dan Favale has floated the Knicks as a trade fit for the Celtics center, identifying Garza's sharpshooting as a missing piece New York could covet by the deadline.

On the court, Garza's role is limited but efficient. In Friday's Celtics win over the Knicks — a tidy piece of scheduling given the trade buzz — he logged just three minutes but scored 8 points with a steal and a +6 plus-minus. Earlier in the week he put up 2 points and 2 rebounds in 8 minutes against Detroit in a Celtics loss. The minutes are sparse, but the reputation is clearly not: teams don't target backup centers who aren't doing something right.

Murray Absorbing Real Minutes in Sacramento

Keegan Murray is doing the less glamorous but more consistent work in Sacramento. The Kings forward has been a reliable rotation piece through the season's first week, playing 28 minutes in a blowout loss to the Clippers (2 points, 4 rebounds) and following that with 25 minutes against Portland (12 points, 2 rebounds, 1 steal). The Kings dropped both games, but Murray's role appears secure.

Off the floor, Murray made news for a more human reason: his visible, audible reaction to learning teammate Ben Simmons had ruptured his Achilles before the season even began. Simmons had been generating real preseason momentum before the injury ended his year. For a Kings team now shorthanded upfront, Murray's steady presence matters even more.

Stirtz's Debut: He's in the Building

Bennett Stirtz's NBA debut has been modest by design. The Thunder rookie — described by analysts as a polished, winning-oriented guard with handle, vision, and shooting — logged one minute in each of Oklahoma City's wins over San Antonio and Denver this week. He didn't register a counting stat in either appearance, and his -5 plus-minus against the Nuggets hints at the growing pains of cracking a Thunder rotation that's already one of the league's deepest.

Stirtz won't be a fantasy priority anytime soon, and OKC hasn't shown urgency to rush him. But he's in uniform, he's logging NBA minutes, and for a player making his professional debut, that's the right first sentence.

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Kris Murray, Garza's fellow big and Iowa's fifth active NBA alum, also contributed for Memphis in a win over Golden State on Saturday — 12 minutes, 3 rebounds, a block, and a +2. The Hawkeye depth chart in the Association has rarely looked this long.

Iowa Hawkeyes in the NBA | Oct. 4–10, 2026

Two former Hawkeyes are making noise at opposite ends of the NBA roster security spectrum this preseason — one turning heads with a breakout performance, the other fighting to keep his spot.

Garza Puts the League on Notice

Luka Garza didn't wait for the regular season to make a statement. The Iowa big man dropped 22 points and 10 rebounds in Boston's 124-113 preseason victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers, headlining the Celtics' win while starters Neemias Queta and Mitchell Robinson sat out the opener. It was the kind of performance that demands attention — and Boston's front office would be wise to take notes.

The context makes it even more compelling. Before landing in Boston, Garza had struggled to carve out consistent minutes with the Minnesota Timberwolves, and questions lingered about whether he could hold his own in a championship-caliber rotation. Last season, those doubts quieted as the Celtics' center corps quietly became one of the league's more reliable frontcourts. Now, with Queta making bold claims about Boston's interior depth heading into 2026-27, Garza's preseason explosion adds credibility to the hype — and raises the stakes for his role going forward.

For what it's worth, the trade rumor mill is already spinning. A proposed deal circulating in NBA circles would send Garza to the Lakers in exchange for Dalton Knecht — though there's no indication Boston has any interest in moving a center who just went off for a double-double in Game 1 of the preseason.

Kris Murray Fighting for His NBA Life

Meanwhile in Memphis, Kris Murray is staring down a roster cut deadline with his Grizzlies future uncertain. The 6'8" forward is drawing genuine interest from around the league should he be waived — most notably from the Lakers, who have been urged to sign him on either a standard or two-way contract as a more upside-laden alternative to keeping Dalton Knecht or Jaden Hardy.

Murray hasn't had the smoothest path since being drafted, but his size and versatility at the wing position make him an attractive reclamation candidate for a team looking to add length on the cheap. Whether Memphis keeps him or lets him walk, the interest elsewhere suggests his NBA career isn't over — it may just be taking a detour.

The Bigger Picture

It's a tale of two Hawkeyes. Garza looks more entrenched than ever in a contender's rotation, while Kris Murray is battling for a foothold anywhere in the league. Both stories reflect the razor-thin margins of NBA roster construction — one strong preseason performance can reshape a player's entire trajectory, and one cut can send a career in an entirely different direction.

Iowa fans have reason to watch both situations closely as rosters finalize and the regular season approaches.