Luka Garza Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Luka Garza Discusses Signing With Celtics

July 14th, 2025 at 4:07pm CST by Rory Maher

After playing a limited role for the Pistons and Timberwolves over the course of his first four NBA seasons, former Iowa star Luka Garza admitted he was motivated to sign with the Celtics because he’ll have an opportunity to earn more playing time, according to Brian Robb of MassLive.

“Obviously, the franchise speaks for itself and just the winning and the history,” Garza said. “I’m a big basketball junkie, so obviously the chance to put on that uniform and play for the Celtics is attractive enough. But obviously there’s a lot of opportunity, especially in the frontcourt and with the guys that we have. I think the front office and the coaches believe in me and what I can do, so I just saw that as really good for me at this stage in my career.”

The Celtics traded starting center Kristaps Porzingis to Atlanta and lost backup Luke Kornet to San Antonio in free agency, while Al Horford is considered unlikely to return next season. After being stuck behind Rudy Gobert and Naz Reid in Minnesota, Garza could carve out a significant role in the middle for Boston, which only has Neemias Queta and Xavier Tillman as fellow big men on standard deals.

“I feel like I learned so much from my time in Minnesota from being around those type of guys, but I think it was time to find that opportunity to get on the floor,” Garza said, per Robb. “I felt like in the limited opportunities I was able to get, I was able to show well and maximize those. But for me it was a priority for me to get somewhere where I could get more of those opportunities.”

While he hasn’t played many NBA minutes to this point in his career, Garza has dominated at the G League level and clearly the Celtics liked his game, otherwise they wouldn’t have given him a two-year deal that’s fully guaranteed.

Celtics Sign Luka Garza To Two-Year Contract

June 30th, 2025 at 7:13pm CST by Eli Cohen

July 7: The Celtics’ deal with Garza is now being listed as official in NBA.com’s transaction log.

June 30: The Celtics have agreed to a two-year deal with center Luka Garza, reports ESPN’s Shams Charania (Twitter link). Keith Smith of Spotrac confirms (via Twitter) that the deal is a minimum-salary contract, which would come in around $5.3MM across those two seasons.

The 26-year-old Garza is entering his fifth season in the league. He began his career in Detroit before spending the past three seasons with the Timberwolves, with whom he averaged 4.5 points and 1.6 rebounds in 6.3 minutes per night in 92 total games.

Jon Krawcyznski of The Athletic tweets that the Celtics have had an eye on Garza for a while, having previously inquired about his availability.

After losing Kristaps Porzingis to the Hawks and Luke Kornet to the Spurs, and with Al Horford drawing significant interest around the NBA, the Celtics find their frontcourt rotation very thin, with just Xavier Tillman and Neemias Queta under contract.

Garza has never averaged more than 8.7 minutes per game, but he brings size, scoring and energy to a team that is looking to remain competitive as Jayson Tatum recovers from his ruptured Achilles.

Timberwolves Decline Team Options On Garza, Minott

June 29th, 2025 at 6:07pm CST by Eli Cohen

The Timberwolves have decided not to pick up their team options on Luka Garza and Josh Minott, reports Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (via Twitter).

Garza’s option was for $2.35MM, while Minott’s was worth $2.19MM. Both players will now become unrestricted free agents.

Garza, a 6’10” center, played 39 games for the Timberwolves this season, averaging 3.5 points and 1.4 rebounds in just 5.6 minutes per night. This was the 26-year-old’s third season in Minnesota after starting his career with the Pistons.

With Minnesota selecting two centers in the 2025 draft in Joan Beringer and Rocco Zikarsky, as well as retaining Naz Reid and Julius Randle, the frontcourt has quickly become crowded, though Chris Hine of the Star Tribune reports (via Twitter) that there’s a chance Garza returns to the Wolves.

Minott, a versatile and athletic forward at 6’8″, played 46 games and averaged 2.6 points and 1.0 rebound in 6.0 minutes per night. The 22-year-old was the 45th pick in the 2022 draft.

These were the last two 2025/26 team option decisions we were waiting on — you can check out all of those decisions right here.

Northwest Notes: Strawther, Westbrook, Thunder, Garza, Henderson

February 1st, 2025 at 8:16am CST by Earnest Marshall

Nuggets guard Julian Strawther is establishing himself as a reliable part of Denver’s rotation and an outside scoring threat, Bennett Durando of The Denver Post writes. The second-year Gonzaga product is averaging 9.4 points per game while shooting 37.9% from deep, giving the Nuggets a clear-cut eighth option for their rotation.

For Strawther to maintain his role in coach Michael Malone‘s rotation heading into the playoffs, Denver will need to ensure his development continues at a steady pace, Durando writes.

“What I love about that kid is his work ethic,” Malone said. “He was in our gym every day this summer. And I’m not making that up. Sometimes you hear these stories. They’re inflated. Julian Strawther was in our gym every day this summer.”

We have more from the Northwest Division:

Russell Westbrook exited Denver’s game against the Sixers on Friday night due to hamstring tightness and did not return, ESPN’s Tim Bontemps reports. Westbrook didn’t appear to have a limp and it’s unclear if he’ll miss any additional time due to the injury. If he does, Christian Braun would reenter the starting lineup in his place.
If the Thunder make a trade at the deadline, it should be a move on the margins and not one that impacts the team chemistry of a squad that has a real shot at winning a title, Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman opines. Mussatto comes up with three potential trades, including one for Nets forward Cameron Johnson. Pelicans guard Jose Alvarado and Hawks guard Garrison Mathews are two lower-cost targets suggested by Mussatto.
Timberwolves backup big Luka Garza has a history of big performances against Utah, Chris Hine of The Star Tribune observes. In five career games against the Jazz, Garza holds career averages of 12.2 points per game on 58.8% shooting from three, his most against any team. On Thursday, Garza stepped up with Donte DiVincenzo, Mike Conley and Julius Randle dealing with injuries, scoring 16 points.
Trail Blazers second-year guard Scoot Henderson is putting together more and more good-to-great games and he’s growing as a leader for Portland, Aaron Fentress of The Oregonian writes. In 16 games in January, Henderson averaged 14.6 points, 3.4 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game while shooting 48.4% from the field and 43.8% from three. “His energy has been crazy,” teammate Deandre Ayton said. “He’s becoming a true point guard, being very vocal, talking to everybody.”

Timberwolves Notes: Dillingham, Clark, Finch, Alexander-Walker, Ingles

January 31st, 2025 at 10:01am CST by Arthur Hill

A trio of little-used players helped the Timberwolves pick up a win Thursday night at Utah, writes Chris Hine of The Star Tribune. With three members of the rotation unavailable, Rob Dillingham, Jaylen Clark and Luka Garza stepped in to fill the void. Dillingham, a lottery pick last summer, turned in one of the best games of his career with 19 points and eight assists while shooting 8-of-11 from the field.

“There was really no figuring it out,” he said of the team’s changing lineups. “We work out every day together. We get ready to play together. Them guys put in the work, even though they don’t get to show it all the time. They put in the work.”

Clark, a two-way guard who was appearing in just his sixth game, saw significant minutes off the bench for the second straight night. He was selected with the 53rd pick in the 2023 draft, but missed all of last season due to a ruptured Achilles. He won Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year honors at UCLA, and the Wolves believe he could have a future as a defensive specialist.

“He’s got a maturity that we could use,” coach Chris Finch said. “Just felt like he deserved a chance. Been thinking that way for a little while, and Wednesday [against Phoenix] was certainly an opportunity to do it.”

There’s more on the Timberwolves:

Finch received the first ejection of his coaching career on Wednesday and Anthony Edwards had to separate him from referee C.J. Washington before he left the court, Hine adds in a separate story. His players said Finch was in a confrontational mood all day after Monday’s lethargic effort against a short-handed Atlanta team. “I think he went to sleep last night with violence on his mind, and you know how you go to sleep with something on your mind and you’re hoping when you wake up — I don’t think his sleep was good enough,” Edwards said. “The way he did us in film today, particularly me, it was a tough day for us.”
Nickeil Alexander-Walker was able to play 25 minutes on Wednesday, even though he had to be helped off the court Monday after suffering a lower leg contusion. With Donte DiVincenzo already sidelined, Alexander-Walker knew he had to be ready, notes Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic. “Everything I’ve been through in my career, playing, not playing, every time I can play I don’t want to miss that,” he said.
Joe Ingles, who signed with Minnesota as a free agent last summer, remains a popular figure in Utah, where he played the first eight seasons of his career, per Andy Larsen of The Salt Lake Tribune. With Thursday’s game well out of hand, fans chanted for Ingles to be inserted, which he was for the final 3:51. The 37-year-old forward has made 10 brief appearances this season and has yet to score.

Timberwolves Notes: Garza, Minott, Edwards, Lloyd

October 19th, 2024 at 8:27am CST by Earnest Marshall

Timberwolves center Luka Garza had a dominant college career, but he’s had to take a more patient approach to his NBA tenure. After averaging 24.1 points and 8.7 rebounds during his AP Player of the Year senior season, Garza has only appeared in 85 NBA games, with modest averages of 5.5 points and 2.3 rebounds per contest.

After impressing in the G League and during limited NBA minutes, Garza signed a multiyear standard contract in July. According to The Athletic’s Jon Krawzynski, Garza is battling several players for the 11th spot in the Timberwolves’ rotation this fall. He got the chance to prove his worth against Nuggets superstar center Nikola Jokic in a recent preseason game and recorded 29 points and nine rebounds.

“I know how rare these kinds of opportunities come, especially like this. And a chance to play against the best player in the world and start against him,” Garza said. “It’s an awesome opportunity. So I wanted to go out there and do whatever I could do, stay present, stay in the moment and not let it pass by without taking advantage of it.”

Rudy Gobert, Anthony Edwards, Mike Conley, Jaden McDaniels, Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenzo, Naz Reid and Nickeil Alexander-Walker appear to be the top rotation options in Minnesota. That leaves Garza, third-year forward Josh Minott, veteran Joe Ingles and rookies Rob Dillingham and Terrence Shannon competing for minutes this year.

“Luka’s crazy because you watch Luka work every day and he comes in and he works the same,” Dillingham said. “He might not get a chance every game, but he always is ready. It just shows from the weight room to the gym to everybody. Just watching him makes you want to play with him because you know he’s been working.”

We have more Timberwolves notes:

Minott had an impressive offseason and preseason and is among the players pushing for a rotation role, according to Chris Hine of StarTribune. “I’d probably say three-fourths into last year I switched my mental. I used to fear a lot,” Minott said. “Coming into the league, I was scared of messing up, scared of making mistakes. I wanted to be the perfect player. I wanted to impress the coach and all this other stuff. And now it’s just like not only was that not healthy mentally but it wasn’t helping me to stress like that.” Head coach Chris Finch continues to refer to Minott, who averaged 13.0 points in his five preseason games, as an X-factor.
Edwards helped Team USA win the gold medal in this summer’s Olympics and his teammates feel that experience will have a major impact on his 2024/25 season. “I’m not trying to put him as a little bro, but it felt like that,” USA teammate Kevin Durant said, per Hine. “When you wake up in the morning and your little bro got the most energy. That was Ant. It was a joy to be around him.”
An insatiable thirst for knowledge contributed to Timberwolves general manager Matt Lloyd‘s rise up the ranks of NBA front offices, which helped him land his current position, Krawczynski writes. “He’s one of the most well-respected guys in our profession,” Wolves president of basketball operation Tim Connelly said. “He’s got the acumen and the work ethic and he’s got a wonderful emotional IQ. Someone really smart is going to hire him as their president.“

Contract Details: George, Martin, Wiseman, Isaac, Hield, More

July 8th, 2024 at 6:49am CST by Luke Adams

Following the end of the July moratorium on Saturday, teams wasted no time in officially finalizing many of the contracts they’d agreed to up until that point.

Now that those contracts have been completed, we have the official details on many of them. Here, via several reporters – including Keith Smith of Spotrac, Michael Scotto of HoopsHype, and cap expert Yossi Gozlan – as well as our own sources, are some of those notable details:

Players with trade kickers:

Lakers forward LeBron James (15%), Knicks forward OG Anunoby (15%), Sixers forward Paul George (15%), Sixers forward Caleb Martin (15%), Mavericks sharpshooter Klay Thompson (15%), and Mavericks forward Naji Marshall (5%) received trade kickers on their new free agent deals, while Celtics guard Derrick White (15%) got one on his contract extension.

As an aside, James’ exact starting salary in 2024/25 is $48,728,845, which is $1,258,873 below the maximum he could have earned.

Players who waived their right to veto a trade:

A player who re-signs with his team on a one-year contract (or two-year contract with a second-year option) is typically awarded the right to veto a trade, but has the option to waive that option.

Heat center Thomas Bryant, Rockets guard Aaron Holiday, Raptors wing Garrett Temple, and Magic teammates Gary Harris and Moritz Wagner all surrendered their right to veto a trade in 2024/25 and could be moved freely.

Unlikely incentives:

Nets center Nic Claxton ($97MM base + $3MM incentives), Pacers forward Obi Toppin ($58MM +$2MM), Suns forward Royce O’Neale ($42MM +$2MM), and Sixers forward Martin ($35,040,704 + $5,256,106) are among the players whose contracts include unlikely bonuses that would boost the total guaranteed salary if those incentives are reached.

As cap expert Albert Nahmad observes, the structure of Martin’s contract helped the 76ers maximize their cap room, since his unlikely incentives don’t count toward the cap once he signs.

It wouldn’t surprise me if Martin’s “unlikely” incentives are easier to earn than a typical player’s incentives would be — I don’t expect them to be for making an All-Star team or anything like that. An incentive is considered unlikely for cap purposes if the player wouldn’t have met the criteria the year before. For example, as Nahmad suggests, a bonus related to Martin making 24 or more starts would be considered unlikely because he started 23 games last season. Martin’s bonuses – considered “unlikely” for cap purposes but perhaps “likely” to be earned in reality – could have served as a way to strengthen the Sixers’ offer without sacrificing that extra cap room.

It’s also worth noting that a player’s unlikely incentives can’t exceed 15% of his guaranteed base salary, and Martin’s $5,256,106 in incentives represent exactly 15% of his overall $35,040,704 salary.

Partial or non-guarantees and options:

James Wiseman‘s two-year, minimum-salary contract with the Pacers is guaranteed for $500K in year one, with a team option for 2025/26. That team option would be guaranteed for $569,041 if exercised (ie. the same percentage as his first-year salary).

Luka Garza got a similarly structured two-year, minimum-salary deal with the Timberwolves, except his first year is fully guaranteed prior to his second-year team option. That 2025/26 option would be guaranteed if picked up.

As previously reported, Isaiah Hartenstein‘s three-year, $87MM deal with the Thunder includes a team option for 2026/27. It’s worth $28.5MM, with $58.5MM in guaranteed money across the first two seasons.

Magic teammates Harris ($7.5MM) and Wagner ($11MM) each have second-year team options on their two-year deals.

The Rockets used their full bi-annual exception to give Holiday a two-year deal worth $9,569,400 that includes a second-year team option ($4,901,400).

Neemias Queta‘s three-year, minimum-salary contract with the Celtics is fully guaranteed in year one with a partial guarantee of exactly 50% ($1,174,789 of $2,349,578) in year two, plus a third-year team option for 2026/27. The third-year option ($2,667,944) would be guaranteed for 50% ($1,333,972) if exercised. Since his minimum deal covers more than two years, a team wouldn’t be able to acquire Queta via the minimum salary exception if he’s traded down the road.

Jonathan Isaac‘s new long-term deal with the Magic is partially guaranteed ($8MM of $14MM) in 2026/27, with non-guaranteed salaries of $14.5MM in 2027/28 and $15MM in 2028/29. However, each of those salaries would become fully guaranteed if Isaac plays at least 52 games in the prior season. For instance, if Isaac were to appear in 54 games in 2026/27, his $14.5MM salary for ’27/28 would be fully guaranteed.

Sign-and-trade contracts:

Interestingly, Kyle Anderson‘s and Buddy Hield‘s new contracts with the Warriors have the exact same salaries for the first three seasons: $8,780,488, $9,219,512, and $9,658,536. Anderson’s three-year deal is fully guaranteed for the first two years and non-guaranteed in year three.

As for Hield, his four-year contract is fully guaranteed for the first two years, with a partial guarantee of $3MM for year three. His fourth year is a $10,097,560 player option that would be partially guaranteed for $3,136,364 if exercised.

Klay Thompson’s three-year contract with the Mavericks comes in at exactly $50MM, as reported — it starts at $15,873,016 and features 5% annual raises.

Jonas Valanciunas‘ three-year contract with the Wizards is worth $30,295,000 in total, beginning at $9.9MM (which is the amount of the trade exception generated for the Pelicans). It’s fully guaranteed for the first two seasons and non-guaranteed in year three.

Cody Zeller got a three-year, $11,025,000 deal in the sign-and-trade that sent him from New Orleans to the Hawks. The first year is guaranteed for $3.5MM, with two non-guaranteed seasons after that.

Finally, as part of the Mikal Bridges trade, new Nets guard Shake Milton got a three-year, $9,162,405 contract that has a guaranteed first-year salary of $2,875,000, with two non-guaranteed years after that ($3MM in 2025/26 and $3,287,406 in ’26/27). His teammate Mamadi Diakite, who was also sent to Brooklyn in the trade, had his $2,273,252 salary partially guaranteed for $1,392,150.

Milton’s $2,875,000 salary, Diakite’s $1,392,150 partial guarantee, and Bojan Bogdanovic‘s $19,032,850 salary add up to $23.3MM, which is equivalent to Bridges’ salary — the exact amount of outgoing salary the Knicks needed to send to avoid being hard-capped at the first tax apron.

Timberwolves Re-Sign Luka Garza

July 5th, 2024 at 7:26pm CST by Arthur Hill

JULY 5: Garza’s new contract with the Wolves is now official, per the NBA’s transaction log.

JULY 1: Luka Garza will return to the Timberwolves on a two-year contract, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). It’ll be a minimum-salary deal, per Chris Hine of The Star Tribune.

The 25-year-old center saw limited playing time in 25 games last season, averaging 4.0 points and 1.2 rebounds in 4.9 minutes per night. He’s stuck behind Rudy Gobert, Karl-Anthony Towns and Naz Reid in Minnesota’s frontcourt.

Garza was one of the top players in college basketball at Iowa in 2021, but he wasn’t drafted until the 52nd pick because of concerns about how his game might translate to the NBA.

He spent his first season with Detroit, then joined the Wolves in 2022 on a two-way contract that was converted to a standard deal in April.

While Garza hasn’t seen a ton of playing time at the NBA level, he has excelled in the G League, averaging 31.4 points and 10.2 rebounds per game with a .618/.442/.778 shooting line for the Iowa Wolves in 18 NBAGL outings over the past two seasons.

The agreement with Garza leaves Minnesota with five remaining free agents: Kyle Anderson, Monte Morris, T.J. Warren, Jordan McLaughlin and Daishen Nix.

International Notes: Valanciunas, Layman, Simonovic, Garza

June 16th, 2024 at 3:52pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Unrestricted free agent Pelicans center Jonas Valanciunas, the captain of his native Lithuanian national team, is slated to skip his club’s Olympic qualifiers to preserve his body, reports Eurohoops. Valanciunas can’t sign a new contract prior to July 6, and the Olympic qualifying tournament will take place from July 2-7.

If Lithuania wins the six-team tournament in Puerto Rico, it sounds like Valanciunas would like to suit up for the squad at this year’s Paris competition.

“Unfortunately, this situation happened for the first time in my life – not being able to be a national team player,” Valanciunas said. “I’m definitely with the team, my spirit, my advice… I will practice, I will prepare, I believe that I will prepare for Paris, the Olympics. I will help in any way I can. I hope Lithuania understands me and we’ll do what we’ll do in Paris.”

There’s more from around the basketball stratosphere:

Journeyman NBA forward Jake Layman is signing a deal to return to Japanese club Seahorses Mikawa, the team announced (via Twitter). As Dario Skerletic of Sportando notes, Layman made his debut with Seahorses Mikawa last season, averaging 15.1 points, 5.7 rebounds and 1.3 steals a night. The 30-year-old spent six NBA seasons with the Trail Blazers and Timberwolves, plus the Bulls’ NBAGL affiliate, the Windy City Bulls. He hasn’t been on an NBA roster since being waived by Boston in October 2022.
Former NBA center/power forward Marko Simonovic has inked an agreement with Turkish team Bahcesehir, reports Ennio Terrasi Borghesan of Sportando. The seven-foot Simonovic, now 24, was the No. 44 pick in the 2020 draft by the Bulls while still playing for Mega Basket. He suited up for Chicago from 2021-23 before ultimately resuming his basketball career abroad. Across 16 NBA games in his two seasons, Simonovic averaged just 1.4 points on 27.3% shooting for Chicago.
Reserve Timberwolves center Luka Garza, a restricted free agent this summer, is open to possibly playing in Europe, according to Cesare Milanti of Eurohoops. “I would love [to play] for anyone in the EuroLeague,” Garza said. “When you see crowds like Partizan, Fenerbahce, and all these different teams with such environments.” Last year with Minnesota, the 6’10” big man averaged 4.0 points and 1.2 rebounds in 4.9 minutes a night as a little-used bench player.

Timberwolves Convert Luka Garza’s Contract To Standard Deal

April 4th, 2024 at 1:45pm CST by Dana Gauruder

1:45pm: Garza has officially been promoted to a standard deal, Minnesota confirmed in a press release.

10:49am: Luka Garza‘s two-way contract is being converted to a standard deal by the Timberwolves, The Athletic’s Shams Charania tweets. That will make Garza eligible for postseason action.

Minnesota has an open roster spot, so a corresponding move won’t be necessary to promote the third-year big man.

A former second-round pick, Garza is in his second season with the Timberwolves after having spent his rookie campaign with Detroit in 2021/22. The 6’10” center has appeared in 21 games this season, averaging 4.2 points and 1.2 rebounds in 5.2 minutes per game. Garza scored 16 points in just nine minutes against Toronto on Wednesday.

The former University of Iowa star will give Timberwolves coach Chris Finch another frontcourt option for the playoffs. Karl-Anthony Towns underwent knee surgery last month and his postseason status is uncertain.

The deadline to sign players to two-way contracts passed a month ago, so Minnesota’s third two-way slot will remain open for the rest of the season once Garza’s promotion is official.