With Nets Game Clock Running Down, Timme Time Extension Hinges On Development

Newsday.com

When basketball fans think of March, Cinderella’s shining moments in the NCAA tournament comes to mind. But the new era of NIL payments and the Transfer Portal has seemingly sent the fairy tale characters back into obscurity.

Out of the blue, the Nets picked up the feel-good story of late March with the elevation of Drew Timme, who had been toiling at their G League Long Island affiliate until signing a two-year NBA contract on Friday. Timme dropped a double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds against the Clippers, becoming just the fifth player in Nets history to accomplish the feat in his debut, and then scored the go-ahead bucket with eight seconds remaining in Brooklyn’s 115-112 victory in Washington on Saturday night’s back-to-back (which sent the pro-tanking segment of Nets fans into the alternative definition of “madness”).

The 2025-26 portion of Timme’s contract is a team option with no guarantees, per Spotrac.com. With the Nets (24-51) on the verge of being locked into sixth place in the reverse NBA standings with seven games remaining, he’ll have opportunities to show the Nets that he’s not ready for his proverbial carriage to turn into a pumpkin.

March has always been, with apologies to New Jersey Devils forward Timo Meier, Timme Time. Over his four seasons at Gonzaga, Timme finished with the 10^th most points scored in NCAA Tournament history while reaching the Sweet Sixteen three times (no tournament was held during the 2020 COVID pandemic) and the 2021 title game.

However, like many college stars, Timme’s production was disregarded by NBA executives, who left him undrafted in 2023. He spent the season with Milwaukee’s G League team before suffering a left foot fracture. This season appeared to offer more of the same, as he was waived by Sacramento out of training camp and sent to G League Stockton.

In a three-team deal at the end of December, Long Island traded Amari Bailey to acquire Timme’s rights. No one thought much of it at the time.

That is, until Timme dropped 23 points in his first game with his new club and then started adding range to his repertoire. A 25% three-point shooter in college who went 2-for-16 from deep for Stockton at the Tip-Off Tournament, Timme took off from behind the arc in February. In his last 18 games with Long Island, he averaged 25.6 points and 10.1 rebounds per game while draining 27-of-60 (45%) of his three-pointers. He put an exclamation point on his campaign with a 50-burger against Motor City last Saturday.

The first thing I noticed when Timme took the court at Barclays Center on Friday night was his smile, as if he was a lucky fan chosen out of the stands to run with real pros. He has a bit of an old school game, comfortable running as a hub at the top of the key while using his wide body to set solid screens. He also displays good footwork on a variety of ducks, drops, and unders to finish in the paint with either hand.

Saturday night’s game-winning play was straight-up fundamental basketball, with Timme receiving the ball out high and executing a dribble hand-off to Nets guard Tyrese Martin into the middle of the floor. From there, Martin had multiple options, but found Timme rolling hard to the left side of the basket. Timme’s underhanded scoop with his right hand was goaltended off the backboard by Washington big man JT Thor.

Two games are too small a sample to make stats a worthwhile evaluation tool, but if one were to project whether Timme’s tale has legs, focus on two areas that are necessities in the modern game going forward—his three-point shooting and his defense, both of which were underwhelming despite his impressive raw totals.

Though it wasn’t great that Timme misfired on five-of-six treys, all of which were deemed open by NBA.com’s tracking, it can take time for a player to adjust to the speed of his new surroundings. Defenders close out much quicker in the bigs, and many new players have to learn how to deal with the anxiety that comes with the bright lights. Still, you’d like to have seen more of the misses a result of bad luck as opposed to bricks that hit the side of the rim, so it bears watching.

As for Timme’s defense, he’s never going to be an ideal rim protector—he averaged less than a block a game at Gonzaga and Long Island and has yet to register one in his first 54 minutes with Brooklyn. That means he has to offer deterrence in other ways. He was measured with a 7-foot 2 wingspan at the NBA Combine, so he’ll have to put his strong hands to better use on the defensive end with more deflections (NBA.com credited him with three during the two games) and strip steals (none).

As one would expect, Timme was tested often in pick-and-roll coverage. His hedging offered little resistance and he lost track of his assignment on several plays leading to open three-pointers and layups. However, I liked the way he competed in his one-on-one guarding, even when instructed to switch onto ballhandlers.

Understand that it’s Brooklyn’s slog to the finish line that has made Timme’s performance in the last two games feel like such a ray of sunshine. There is nothing real to celebrate here, and that includes Timme. However, if you want to be fair about it, keep an eye out on Timme’s development on the items above, for those will help keep him in the league as opposed to being labeled a mere March (and maybe April) wonder.