Garza, Minott, Moore back to G-League to get more work

The Minnesota Timberwolves roster must be healing, because the team has returned Two-Way center prospect Luka Garza, and assigned two rookies, wing Wendell Moore Jr. and forward Josh Minott, to the team’s G-League affiliate, the Iowa Wolves. The Timberwolves are doing a pretty good job of handling the many diverse needs of their young players so far this season, even as they are back with the Iowa Wolves:

Even as the Timberwolves have tried to optimize what healthy players suit up on their roster for each game, the team has found ways to work the younger players into games. In fact, in many cases, those roles for younger players have been more than the mop-up in the final few minutes of games.

Timberwolves youth are quite promising so far

Of the young players, rookie Josh Minott is most in need of playing time with the Iowa Wolves. Even though he has appeared in seven games, Minott has been quite limited in his playing minutes. In truth, he has just 17 minutes of NBA playing time. But he continues to be a promising prospect, and will likely compete for a larger role on this team in the 2023-24 NBA season.

Rookie wing Wendell Moore Jr. has been a pleasant surprise on the Minnesota Timberwolves roster. He has already appeared in 17 games for the Timberwolves and even started two games. He has plenty of defensive ability, with the ability to stay in his opponent’s back pocket while reaching around to swat the basketball like Stretch Armstrong. His assignment is likely designed to work on his shot arsenal and scoring.

Two-Way contract center Luka Garza is a player who has shown courage on both ends of the basketball court and has gotten the opportunity to showcase his performance as a result. Garza has appeared in 11 games for the Timberwolves but has averaged 6.7 minutes and 5.1 points per game. While he is a proficient scorer, he has also shown the ability to play stingy defense as well. Unfortunately, with the return of PF Taurean Prince, the Timberwolves roster has enough front-court players for the time being.

The Timberwolves roster has been quite a challenge for Timberwolves HC Chris Finch this season. But thanks to the availability and performance of young players on the Timberwolves roster, the team is within one game of returning to .500 basketball.