He wasn’t the first and he won’t be the last. Usman Garuba impressed as a young gun in Europe, made the leap to the NBA, and came back having struggled to find a place. Now, as he enters a Euroleague Final Four with Real Madrid, Garuba has a stage to prove his relevance more than ever. Emmet Ryan on an individual rebuild.
Back is an awfully dangerous word. Coming home to Spain and Real Madrid could have looked like a failure for Usman Garuba. It’s simply the wrong way to look at what Garuba has done since returning to Los Blancos.
He didn’t return to step one but rather to where he was made. Garuba has seen what the NBA gives but also knows what Euroleague demands. If he is to go back to the former, he’ll do it by proving he’s that guy in the latter.
The prospect that left
Usman Garuba wasn’t exactly some kind of gamble when he made the leap across the pond. He had forged his game in the youth academy of Real Madrid and later the senior set-up for almost a decade prior to making the leap in 2021.
With the senior set up, the accolades came quickly, both with the team as he won Liga Endesa and the Copa del Rey, and individually, being named Euroleague Rising Star and ACB best young player before the leap.
He also looked phenomenal in the losing playoff series with Anadolu Efes in his final season. Garuba’s work rate and intelligence very nearly denied a team that would go back-to-back from lifting its first Euroleague crown.
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The NBA blurred the story
It made all kinds of sense for Usman Garuba to go to the NBA when he did. He was 19, had the physical tools, and the money he was going to make with even a short stay made all the sense in the world.
Yet he struggled to make an impact. As a bit part player there were glimpses in his second season with the Houston Rockets. Then at Golden State he hardly saw any action before making the call to come back.
Garuba being somewhat undersized for his position made him perplexing to NBA teams. He didn’t fit the mould the Rockets or Warriors were used to and he didn’t get the opportunity to show what else he could bring in order to change the dynamic on the floor.
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Coming home to retool
Returning to Real Madrid was, by some distance, the most logical call for Usman Garuba. He had been at the club from prior to hitting his teens and it was with Los Blancos that he was able to make his versatility shine. There was, in Madrid, an opportunity to be the best version of himself.
This was immensely practical on Garuba’s part and he hasn’t played with the attitude of someone that feels above it all. Garuba has put in the hard shifts and willingly deferred from the moments that would give him the limelight if it’s best for the team.
Fundamentally, Garuba helps Los Blancos win and they help him keep on developing the best aspects of his game. This certainly proved useful to Guerschon Yabusele who got back to the NBA after enjoying a similar chance to focus on broadening his game in Madrid.
Now it gets serious
This weekend, Usman Garuba needs to grab the limelight with both hands. Not for his own prospects but because Real Madrid need him to. The injuries to Edy Tavares and Alex Len have put Los Blancos at a big disadvantage in the Euroleague Final Four.
While Omer Yurtseven is coming to help in the ACB campaign, it’s going to be on Garuba to change the dynamic in Athens. We’ve already seen how he can in the playoff series win over Hapoel Tel Aviv.
Against Valencia and, if they win that, either Fenerbahce or Olympiacos in the final, Garuba needs to be the shift in the interior game. Real Madrid have lost a huge weapon in Tavares but they may be unlocking a secret one by putting Garuba in a more featured role.
He’s not Tavares and that’s the point
Usman Garuba would be a fool to try and simply replicate Edy. He’s shorter, faster, and just plain different to Tavares. That’s absolutely fine and the assignment isn’t to be a plug and play replacement.
The job is to make Real Madrid different without making them any less of a threat in the Euroleague Final Four. While Tavares changed the geography, Garuba can change the intensity and tempo.
Usman Garuba didn’t come home as a consolation prize. He returned to prove that he can deliver and in a manner much broader than was imagined across the Atlantic. Doing so may get him another NBA offer but, right now, it’s about getting his beloved Madrid back to the top of the pile.