Minnesota Timberwolves, Luka Garza agree to two-way contract

The Minnesota Timberwolves are bringing back center Luka Garza on a two-way deal for the 2023-24 season, The Athletic‘s Jon Krawczynski reported. It will be his second season with the franchise as he was also on a two-way deal with the team this past year.

Garza appeared in 28 games for the Timberwolves this past season, averaging 6.5 points and 2.3 rebounds across only 8.7 minutes. He carried over that effectiveness to the nine games he played with Minnesota’s G-League affiliate, the Iowa Wolves, averaging a team-high 29.8 points and 9.2 rebounds in 34.4 minutes. Garza was named a captain for the G-League All-Star Game.

Per the NBA’s rules, players on two-way contracts can play in up to 50 of their team’s 82 games. Given how well he played last year, it will be interesting to see whether that translates to more time on the court.

Garza is set to enter his third season in the NBA after being drafted in the second round in 2021 following an impressive college career at Iowa. He won back-to-back Big Ten Player of the Year Awards during his junior and senior seasons as well as being named an All-American in both years. During the 2020-21 season, he averaged 24.1 points and 8.7 rebounds per game on his way to being named the consensus Player of the Year.

Garza spent his first season with the Detroit Pistons, where he was converted from a two-way contract to a regular contract prior to the start of the 2021-22 season. He appeared in 32 games with five starts as a rookie to put up 5.8 points and 3.1 rebounds in 12.2 minutes.

Minnesota is coming off of a 42-40 record this past season and lost to the eventual champion Denver Nuggets in the first round of the playoffs. The Timberwolves bring back centers Karl Anthony-Towns, Rudy Gobert and Naz Reid, but Garza will hope to provide quality play behind them whenever he gets the opportunity in 2023-24.

Minnesota is set to begin Summer League play on July 7-14 in Las Vegas. Then the top four teams will compete for a chance at the championship on July 17. Garza was not listed when the Timberwolves released their Summer League roster last month. However, fans will get a chance to see several other talented young prospects, including Minnesota’s second round pick, shooting guard Jaylen Clark out of UCLA.