The Timberwolves announced the signings of free-agent forwards Luka Garza and CJ Elleby on Tuesday.
Garza was a two-time Big Ten Player of the Year at Iowa and spent last season with the Detroit Pistons. The 6-11 forward started five games for the Pistons and played in 32, averaging 5.8 points. He also played 16 games for Detroit's G League team, the Motor City Cruise, where he averaged 20.6 points per game.
The Pistons chose Garza in the second round (52nd overall) of the 2021 draft after he played four seasons at Iowa, where he is the program's all-time leading scorer. He played for Portland's summer league team.
He was the national player of the year in 2020-21 when he averaged 24.1 points and 8.7 rebounds for the Hawkeyes, and was a unanimous All-America first team pick.
The 6-6 Elleby was with Portland the past two seasons. His signing had been reported in early August.
Elleby averaged 5.8 points, 3.9 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 58 games, starting 28, in 2021-22. He spent two seasons at Washington State, where he was All-Pac-12 in 2020. The Blazers took him in the second round (46th overall) in the 2020 draft.
The players are on Exhibit 10 contracts, which are one-year, minimum salary deals. They can be converted to two-way contracts before the start of the regular season.
Wallace hiring official
The Wolves named Jonathan Wallace as director of player personnel and general manager of the G League Iowa Wolves.
Wallace follows Wolves president of basketball operations Tim Connelly from Denver. He spent three seasons with the Nuggets and was scouting coordinator last season.
A former pro player, Wallace an NBA Developmental League (now G League) title with Rio Grande Valley in 2008 and was an all-Big East guard for Georgetown.
