A 2-year NBA contract a treasured bit of security for Luka Garza

CEDAR RAPIDS — There was about a half-hour to 45-minute lag between sessions of his youth basketball skills camp early Tuesday afternoon at the GameOn Sports Complex, so Luka Garza did what Luka Garza always does.

Work.

His dad, Frank, fed him passes to the corner. Swish.

Some turn-around tries. Swish.

“I try to find my time to get a workout in,” Garza said. “I obviously still have to be able to get my shots up, stuff like that. Today was in between. Sometimes it’s after, sometimes it’s before. It’s kind of nice, we’re in the gym all day, so there’s always going to be an open basket. I try to get to one and get my work in.”

It’s what has gotten the University of Iowa’s all-time career scoring leader to where he’s at right now. That’d be the NBA.

The 6-foot-10 center signed a two-year contract last month with the Minnesota Timberwolves. It’s a league-minimum deal worth just over $2.1 million a season, but for a guy who spent most of the past two seasons on a two-way contract, it’s a treasured bit of security.

“It means everything,” Garza said. “For me, it symbolizes my journey so far in the league.”

Garza was a second-round draft pick of the Detroit Pistons in 2021 and played 32 games for the club in the 2021-22 season, averaging 5.8 points and 12.2 minutes per game. Detroit released him, and he signed with Minnesota, where he has spent most of his time in the NBA G League with the Iowa Wolves in Des Moines.

But he had his two-way contract converted into a standard NBA deal late last season and was with the club for its run to the Western Conference championship series against Dallas. The Timberwolves like his offensive abilities and his ability to be ready in case of injuries to their main big guys like Rudy Gobert, Naz Reid and Karl Anthony-Towns.

“After my first year and being cut, I wasn’t really in the greatest spot,” Garza said. “The Timberwolves gave me an opportunity to come to training camp on a non-guaranteed training camp deal, I was able to make the team, sign a two-way.

“Then last year, getting my two-way converted so I could play in the playoffs. Then obviously this summer getting the multi-year deal. So you see how I’ve been able to take steps forward, and that’s big for me. I want to continue to do that. I know there are a lot of steps forward for me in the future.”

Garza said he loves playing in Minnesota, loves the organization and that he’s able to learn from Gobert and company.

“I feel like I’ve developed my confidence level more so than my rookie year,” he said. “I know I can play in the NBA. I know I’m a rotation guy. I know I’m a better rotation guy than a lot of guys that do play. That’s how I feel, the confidence that I have. I will continue to embrace what my role is on this team. I want to be a star at my role.

“I know I’m an emergency guy who is ready when something happens. I’ve got to go out there and help the team impact winning still. We’re a winning team, we can’t afford to lose games. Just because our best guys might be out doesn’t mean we’re not going to win. I’m going to make sure I help with that while also showing the rest of the league that I’m that kind of guy.”

Garza is spending this week traveling around the state with his camps: Urbandale, Cedar Rapids, Davenport and Keokuk. He’ll spend a day at the Iowa State Fair, then head to Atlanta next week to work out with a trainer.

The grind never ends, and he embraces that. Always has.

Anything that helps him stay in the league and be the best version of himself basketball wise.

“I’m excited to continue to learn from the guys I play with,” Garza said. ”I’m still only 25, still kind of a young big in this league. There’s no better team to learn from the guys in front of me. Naz Reid is a great example for me, a guy who played in Des Moines with the Iowa Wolves, was a two-way guy. He was getting DNPs two years ago, now he’s never going to sit again.”

Comments: jeff.johnson@thegazette.com