To say it’s been a long, perilous road for Drew Timme to make it to the NBA would be a major understatement.
The former Richardson Pearce High School standout, who spent four season helping Gonzaga to college basketball greatness, on Monday fulfilled a lifelong dream by playing at American Airlines Center against the Mavericks.
The 6-10 forward was not drafted after his senior season with the Zags and had his rookie season cut short in the G League when he suffered a broken left foot. He didn’t let it stop him, though.
Timme was having a monstrous season with the Long Island Nets in the G League, averaging 23.9 points and 10.3 rebounds before he was called up to the Brooklyn Nets last week.
All he did in his first week in the NBA was sign a two-year contract, average 15 points and eight rebounds in his first two games and hit the go-ahead basket late in the Nets’ win over Washington on Saturday.
Not a bad introduction to the NBA.
“It’s been a grind,” Timme said before Monday’s game against the Mavericks. “A lot of people never thought I’d make it here, especially after breaking my foot last year. Things definitely took a hit.
“But to come back and have the season I’ve had and turn things around has been super-special. I still can’t even describe it. It’s so fresh. It’s crazy.”
Timme couldn’t estimate how many tickets he had to come up with for family and friends on Monday, but it was a lot. He leaves that sort of thing to his mother to parcel out tickets and such.
Timme entered the game in the first quarter and while he didn’t have a big statistical night, he did have a highlight moment when, in the final minute of the third quarter, he blocked Anthony Davis’ layup try to keep the Nets within two points.
Early in the fourth quarter he had a putback dunk that cut the Mavericks’ lead to 94-88.
Timme is the latest in a long line of Gonzaga alumni in the NBA. And he said getting here was a goal that he simply could not fall short on. So many Zags have their NBA jerseys hanging up in Spokane, Wash., that he wanted to be in the club.
“To see all those guys’ jerseys on the wall, I have to get mine up there,” he said. “There’s no way I can’t be one of the guys on there. So it feels great to be part of that now.”
Timme said he couldn’t remember the last time he was in AAC, where he’s never played a game. He thought it was a Stars hockey game a couple years ago.
But there’s no doubt that he always wanted to play in the arena and his first choice would have been to do so with the Mavericks.
“It’s crazy how the scheduling worked out,” Timme said. “Obviously, it’s been a dream of mine to play in this arena since I was a little kid. It’s great to kind of come full circle. Dirk was my favorite player growing up.”
After a glittery career in college, it was surprising that Timme was not drafted. But that happens sometimes when players spend four years in school. Somehow, it gets held against them.
But for Timme, he’s proving that he’s quite comfortable at the NBA level.
“Yeah, I don’t think the moment’s ever been (too) big for him,” said Nets’ coach Jordi Fernandez. “That’s what he does. He has a good feel, never looks rushed. Everybody loves him and he’s got good energy. I know it’s only been two games, but it seems like he’s done this at this level for a long time.”
Briefly: The Mavericks are getting healthier, but still were without Dereck Lively II on Monday. However, coach Jason Kidd said that Lively is trending in the right direction and could be on the court again soon. Also out for the Mavericks were Kyrie Irving (knee), Dante Exum (hand) and O-Max Prosper (wrist) . . . Interesting comment from Kidd before Monday’s game when he was asked about keeping morale high when the Mavericks were down to a bare-bones roster in terms of healthy bodies. “The culture, character of that group, they truly believe, no matter if it’s seven, six or eight – and part of the reason why I say six is half the team is on minutes restriction. This is not easy to do,” he said. “We got guys who can only go three minutes at a time or four minutes. As a coach, if they’re doing well, as a coach or player you’d like to stretch that. But we can’t at this point. We play hard and we try to win.” And making sure players know that’s the criteria – not necessarily makes or misses – can do a lot to keep morale up . . . Some things come full circle. The Nets’ Timme and second-year forward Jalen Wilson, who attended Denton’s Guyer High School, were on the same fifth-grade team back in the day. “We played together and against each other our whole lives growing up,” Timme said.
X: @ESefko
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