Luka Garza ends Iowa Wolves G-League season with a bang

There is a lot to like about the future of the Minnesota Timberwolves, as long as the team continues to find and develop young prospects at the same pace as the team managed to do in the 2022-23 NBA season. Of course, once the team has established those prospects who have promising NBA careers ahead of them, the ideal scenario is to lock them up to a multi-year contract.

One such player who has shown to be deserving of a more permanent contractual relationship with the Minnesota Timberwolves is center, Luka Garza. Luka Garza was signed to one of two 2-Way Contracts this season by Minnesota Timberwolves President of Basketball Operations Tim Connelly. Despite limited opportunities to play for the Minnesota Timberwolves, he made the most of it.  But he clearly found his mojo while competing for the Timberwolves G-League affiliate, the Iowa Wolves:

He competed in six games with the Iowa Wolves and averaged 38.4 minutes, 32.2 points, 11.5 rebounds, and 3.5 assists. He even managed to knock down 42.9 percent of his three-point shots. So why did he compete in so few games for the Iowa Wolves?

He was pretty active on the Minnesota Timberwolves roster as well. In fact, he competed in 26 NBA games this season. He averaged 9.0 minutes, 6.8 points, and 2.3 rebounds. He is still a very young 24 years old and is a prime candidate to be signed to a Minnesota Timberwolves roster spot in the offseason.

With Karl-Anthony Towns moving to power forward, the Timberwolves will need a third center behind starter Rudy Gobert and back-up center Naz Reid (assuming that the team can re-sign Reid). Garza is an ideal third center for the team. Not only has he already flashed NBA potential, but his versatility at both ends of the basketball court is not a common quality among young players.

Will the Minnesota Timberwolves re-sign him? I certainly believe that they should. He was one of the players who stepped up for the team when the Timberwolves roster was a bit strained due to injury. He certainly has done his part to keep the Timberwolves in the hunt. Hopefully, the team will do its part to keep Luka Garza in the Timberwolves’ hunting party.