Luka Garza has spent the last two seasons with the Minnesota Timberwolves. That partnership will continue on further. Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reports that the 25-year-old center has come to terms with Minnesota on a two-year deal.
Free agent C Luka Garza is returning to the Minnesota Timberwolves on a two-year deal, sources tell ESPN. pic.twitter.com/dcGAGrr7FE
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 1, 2024
Former NCAA Player Of The Year Re-Signs With Timberwolves
Luka Garza Has Received Limited Playing Time With Timberwolves
In the 2021 NBA Draft, Garza was selected with the 22nd pick in the second round (52nd overall) by the Detroit Pistons. He signed a two-way deal with the team that was later converted to a standard contract. He played 35 games for Detroit in the 2021-22 season averaging 5.8 points and 3.1 rebounds.
Garza then moved on to play with Minnesota where he has spent the last two seasons. The Timberwolves are loaded in the frontcourt headlined by Karl-Anthony Towns, reigning Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert, and reigning Sixth Man of the Year Naz Reid. With those three in tow, the six-foot-ten Garza hasn’t received much playing time. In 2023-24, he appeared in 25 games for a total of just 122 minutes. He finished with per-game averages of 4.0 points and 1.2 rebounds. The previous season, he reached his career-high of 25 points against the Utah Jazz on February 8, 2023.
Minnesota reached the Western Conference Finals for just the second time in franchise history this past season. While Garza wasn’t a part of their postseason rotation, he did get into seven playoff games totaling 29 points and six rebounds. In 85 career regular season games over three NBA seasons, Garza owns averages of 5.5 points and 2.3 rebounds. He has shot 48.8% from the field, 32.5% on three-point tries, and 70.3% from the foul line.
Was A Standout At Iowa
Prior to his NBA career, Garza played four years collegiately for the Iowa Hawkeyes. He is one of the best players in school history as his #55 jersey is hanging from the rafters at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Garza’s 2,306 points are the most in school history and his 931 rebounds are the second-most.
In both his junior and senior seasons, Garza was named a consensus First Team All-American as well as Big Ten Player of the Year. In his senior season of 2020-21, he would go on to average 24.1 points and 8.7 rebounds. He shot a stellar 55.3% from the field and 44.0% from three-point territory. Garza would be named the Naismith College Player of the Year in 2021.
