At this point in the NBA season, some players are receiving a chance that normally wouldn’t be in a team’s rotation. Even the Minnesota Timberwolves, who are fighting for the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference, have guys emerging late in the season.
One of those players would be big man, Luka Garza. On Wednesday night, Garza played only nine minutes yet managed to score 16 points. He went 7-of-10 from the field with two rebounds, one assist and one steal in a 133-85 blowout victory over the Toronto Raptors.
The next day, his performance was rewarded. NBA insider Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium revealed that the Timberwolves converted Garza, who was on a two-way contract, to a standard NBA contract so that they could keep him on the roster for the postseason. The news was confirmed by Garza’s agents Mike Kneisley and Odell Witherspoon of Klutch Sports.
Some people would look at this as a nice accomplishment for Garza with the team rewarding him for solid play in spot minutes throughout the season. But, it is not hard to imagine this was done as insurance because the team isn’t sure how long it will be until they have Karl-Anthony Towns back in the lineup.
Towns has not played since March 4th because of a meniscus injury and there was no timetable for his return. The Timberwolves were originally optimistic that he would be able to get back into the lineup in time for the NBA Playoffs, but his recovery could last longer than that.
Not wanting to be left short-handed in the frontcourt, the Timberwolves made a move to ensure that Garza can be part of their playoff rotation. He will provide the team with some insurance behind Rudy Gobert and Naz Reid, who has assumed Towns’ spot in the starting lineup at power forward.
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