‘What do I do now?’ How former Gonzaga standout Drew Timme found perspective through first career injury

LAS VEGAS – Drew Timme likened his first season as a professional basketball player with the Wisconsin Herd, a G League affiliate of the Milwaukee Bucks, to his freshman season at Gonzaga.

Both presented early bumps and tough lessons but by the midway point of the season, Timme felt things slowing down around him. He was playing with more confidence, less reluctance. Every night out, something new was clicking.

By the 27th game of the G League season, Timme felt he was playing at his highest level and had the data points to prove it.

During his eighth game at the G League Showcase Cup – a monthlong tournament that precedes the regular season – Timme had a 30-point, 10-rebound double-double, making 11 of his 12 shots from the field against the Windy City Bulls. He closed the Showcase Cup with a 16-point, 15-rebound double-double, was averaging 9.7 points and 5.8 rebounds in 21.8 minutes per game and was shooting 3-pointers at a solid 38% clip.

Timme’s production and consistency hadn’t gone unnoticed by the NBA franchise 90 miles away in Milwaukee. There’d been talks about bringing the rookie in for a 10-day contract, or multiple 10-day contracts, with the Bucks, but those conversations never made it past the preliminary stage.

In a Jan. 26 game against the Delaware Blue Coats, Timme was on pace for his third G League double-double, tallying eight points and eight rebounds. The forward was setting a screen when he got hit low, knocking him to the ground. As Timme fell, his left foot crashed into the floor at a weird angle.

With pain shooting through his foot, Timme pounded his shoe against the ground – the forward’s usual remedy for lower extremity issues, as detailed in a 2023 CBS Sports profile.

“I usually hit my stomp, where I hit my feet,” Timme said. “I stomped and I definitely collapsed and I was like … that does not feel right.”

It was the unthinkable. Or, perhaps, the inevitable.

Timme had no medical history to speak of prior to the injury, which was later diagnosed as a left foot fracture, effectively ending his rookie season. The forward’s durability at Gonzaga, as one of the country’s highest-usage players routinely logging 35-38 minutes per night – at the most physical position on the court, no less – might have even been underappreciated during his historic run in Spokane.

A physical ailment never kept him out of a game at Gonzaga – Timme was 134 of 134 in that regard – and he never missed so much as a practice at Pearce High School in Texas.

“Insane,” Timme said. “… That was kind of a, ‘Well, what do I do now?’ I didn’t really know how to handle it. … Honestly, I just kind of took the perspective like, ‘Look, I haven’t been injured before, it was bound to happen eventually, but also it’s better when I’m on a two-way or something.’ If it had to happen, God forbid, it did happen then so it was the best time, even though it’s never a good time.”

Although Wisconsin still held his player rights, the team gave Timme a medical release that allowed him to return home and conduct his rehabilitation and recovery at Built4It Performance Center in Prosper, Texas.

Timme was back to the drawing board by early May. He played weekly pickup games in the Dallas area, participated in a local NBA workout with the New York Knicks and got out of his comfort zone, sharing video clips on his social media platforms as another way to communicate to NBA teams he was healthy and eager for another opportunity.

“Making sure I’m reposting videos and stuff because I’m really bad at social media,” he said. “I’m horrible at it, horrible. So just trying to make sure every time someone tagged me, I reposted it so people can see, ‘Oh he can move still.’ Trying to just create a narrative, I guess.”

At least two teams bought the narrative.

Timme jumped on an opportunity to join the Toronto Raptors for the NBA’s annual Summer League showcase in Las Vegas, then heard from the Sacramento Kings not long after that. The Kings wanted the forward for their roster at the California Classic, another iteration of Summer League that runs for roughly one week in Sacramento and San Francisco before the main event in Vegas.

Timme figured he could gain valuable experience playing three to four games for Sacramento and swap out jerseys once he arrived in Vegas. But after developing chemistry with teammates at the California Classic and building a solid foundation with Sacramento’s coaching staff, he politely declined Toronto’s offer and elected to commit to the Kings for another few weeks.

“It was a no-brainer,” Timme said.

A slam dunk for the Kings, too.

“Well, Drew went to the wrong school, so let’s start there. No, I (say that) all the time because I’m a Pepperdine guy and he’s a Gonzaga guy,” said Kings Summer League coach Doug Christie, a Seattle native and former NBA Defensive Player of the Year. “I’ve been a fan of his from afar for a while, watching him play and how he goes about his business, so when the opportunity presented itself for him to be on our squad I was like, ‘Yeah, if you can get that guy, get him.’ I love what he brings, I love his attention to detail, all the little things.

“He’s a consummate team player and I think that goes a long way with Sacramento and who we’re trying to be as a team. So to have him here and for him to help some of our young guys along as he continues his career is super, super big. My experience has been great with him. It’s kind of what I thought and expected it might be and I’m glad to have him.”

In three games at the California Classic, Timme averaged 9.7 points, 7.0 rebounds and 1.3 steals in 23.1 minutes per game. His scoring numbers improved in Vegas, where Timme averaged 11.4 points to go with 4.4 rebounds and 1.3 assists.

“Drew, he just brings that very professional approach to the game,” Sacramento guard Mason Jones said. “When you drive, you know he’s going to be there for the push, the shot, and you know he’s going to play hard, rebound and he’s going to remember the plays.”

He scored a Summer League-high 19 points to go with five rebounds and four assists in a game against the Utah Jazz, earning high praise from ESPN color commentator PJ Carlesimo, who compared his skill set as a playmaking big man to that of former Sacramento great Vlade Divac.

“I think it’s just capitalizing on what I do best,” Timme said. “Obviously, I’m not going to be a perennial shot blocker, but that’s the type of stuff I feel like separates me from other people. My IQ and being able to create for others, so I think, obviously, being able to capitalize on that and not turn the ball over and being efficient is what’s going to help me stick out the most.”

Timme was flattered by the Divac comparison, but he’s more familiar with the All-Star forward and former Zag holding things down in Sacramento’s frontcourt.

“He’s like the blueprint of what you should want to be as a Gonzaga big,” Timme said of Domantas Sabonis. “For someone like me, the way he plays, I love his IQ, how he plays. Strong, physical, smart. All those things you try to just copy and watch from afar.

“Obviously, the goal is to get anywhere near what Sabonis has done because he’s a helluva player.”

Timme grew comfortable with Sacramento’s coaching staff in Vegas, in part because of another Gonzaga connection.

Riccardo Fois, Gonzaga’s former director of analytics was recently hired as an assistant coach in Sacramento. Fois and Timme didn’t overlap in Spokane, but the former Gonzaga aid was involved in Timme’s recruitment and the two spent lots of time talking X’s and O’s last month in Vegas.

“Kind of digging through his mind and how he sees things is also important,” Timme said. “(Fois) and Sabonis are homies, too.”

Although it was cut short, Timme’s rookie season was a helpful introductory course in how to navigate life as a pro.

One takeaway? There’s more down time than the average person might assume.

“When you’re a pro, it’s you get your work in and then you’ve got to find something to do,” Timme said.

It’s still a work in progress.

“I’m in the market for hobbies,” Timme said. “If anybody has cool hobbies, I’d be interested.”

One hobby last year was following his alma mater during a roller-coaster regular season. While trying to replace Timme, the school’s career scoring leader (2,307 points) and other integral pieces from a team that advanced to the Elite Eight in 2023, Gonzaga went through early growing pains.

Watching from afar, Timme found it amusing when some fans turned on the Zags early after losing three of their first eight games, and got a kick out of pundits picking McNeese State to upset GU in a first-round NCAA Tournament game.

“Honestly, it was pretty funny,” Timme said. “If you’re a good team, you’re going to end up being good, and then it was funny when they actually matched up with McNeese, everyone was picking McNeese. I was like, ‘Did somebody put crack in the water or something?’ ”

The Timme family avoided a potentially uncomfortable situation in that game. There was a scenario in which Drew could’ve faced his younger brother had the GU star returned for his fifth year of eligibility and Walker Timme stayed at McNeese State before leaving the school for personal reasons.

“They did really good,” Drew said of the Zags. “You can’t expect a team to lose the guys they did – roles change, it takes awhile. It’s not going to fit like a glove right away.”

Timme remains impressed with the player who replaced him in the frontcourt, Graham Ike, and said the All-WCC first-team forward is capable of performing at a higher level in 2024-25.

“Helluva player, man,” Timme said. “I love just his pace, but also his strength, too. He can get straight to his stuff and I expect even more from him this year. That’s how good he is. He really can be All-American and anything he wants to be.”