The 2021 EuroLeague Rising Star returns to his boyhood club after three years away
Real Madrid brings forward Usman Garuba back
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Real Madrid is bringing a familiar face back home with the signing of power forward Usman Garuba, who returns after three seasons away. He has signed a three-year deal with Los Blancos.
Garuba (2.03 meters, 22 years old) spent last season with the Golden State Warriors in the NBA and the Santa Cruz Warriors in the G League. He averaged 13.6 points on 40.6% three-point shooting, 11.0 rebounds, 1.3 steals and 1.2 blocks in 21 games for Santa Cruz. Garuba ranked eighth in the G League in rebounding.
Garuba enters his second run with Real. He first joined Los Blancos when he was 11 years old and became a dominant force at youth level. He helped Real win the 2019 Adidas Next Generation Tournament with 21 points and 5 blocks in the championship game against Mega Basket. Garuba was chosen to the All-Tournament team. He also led Spain to respective gold medals at the 2016 U18 European Championships and the 2019 U18 European Championship.
He made his Real Madrid first-team debut in October 2018 and became a full-time member of the senior team at the start of the 2019-20 campaign. EuroLeague head coaches chose Garuba as the 2020-21 EuroLeague Rising Star after he averaged 3.9 points, 4.0 rebounds and 0.7 blocks in 39 games that season. He boosted his numbers up to 10.4 points, 7.2 rebounds and a PIR of 13.0 in Real's five-game playoff series against Anadolu Efes Istanbul.
After that, Garuba was selected by the Houston Rockets in the first round of the 2021 NBA Draft. He then spent two seasons with Houston in addition to a brief stint with its G League affiliate, the Rio Grande Valley Vipers. Garuba also helped Spain win a gold medal at EuroBasket 2022.