What Drew Timme's injury means for his NBA career
Amid the hoopla of arguably the best night of Gonzaga men's basketball this season, Gonzaga Nation confirmed on Tuesday that Drew Timme suffered a broken foot and will be sidelined for the rest of the season.
On Thursday the Wisconsin Herd announced that Timme will undergo season-ending surgery on his left foot.
Timme was in the middle of his first season with the Milwaukee Bucks' G League Affiliate, the Herd. The 6-foot-10 Texan suited up in 27 games with the Herd and averaged 9.7 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.5 assists.
The injury comes at a pivotal point in the NBA season, as teams look to fill roster voids by signing free agents and G League players to short 10-day contracts. While such a deal doesn't always lead to a long-term extension, the amount of G League experience at the next level continues to grow — a record 50% of opening-day rosters to start the 2023-24 season had a G League player.
Even the best teams often pull from the developmental league's pool of young talent, as 57% of the teams that made the playoffs last season had G League experience rostered, the second-highest percentage of all-time according to the NBA G League's website.
Timme had put himself in a solid position to, at the very least, receive interest from an NBA team. He's had several big games with the Herd this season, including a 30-point, 10-rebound and 6-assist performance in early December; a 14-point, 10-rebound double-double on Jan. 17 and a 16-point, 15-rebound outing in the G League Showcase finale on Dec. 22. He shot 50% or better on at least five field goal attempts in 16 games, as he looked comfortable playing within the flow of the game at the next level.
One of the biggest knocks on Timme's game coming out of Gonzaga was his overall presence on defense due to some perceived athletic limitations. But that hasn't been entirely true throughout his run in the G-League, as he's flashed some two-way ability at different moments this season.
With some consistency and more experience at the next level, Timme could certainly earn some looks from a team in need of a spark off the bench in a limited role. A broken foot puts a damper on that dream for the moment, though a full recovery from the 23-year-old would get him right back on track.
Foot injuries haven't been kind to NBA bigs in the past, depending on the severity and the specific bones of course. Yao Ming's career was limited after he sustained a Jones fracture during his fourth season in which the 7-foot-6 Hall-of-Fame center only played five more seasons before retiring at 30 years old. Bill Walton years prior had his career plagued with foot injuries that began when he entered the NBA with the Portland Trail Blazers.
More recently, Timme's old Gonzaga teammate Chet Holmgren missed his entire rookie season with a Lisfranc injury after being selected No. 2 overall by the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2022. Holmgren has returned to the hardwood as a frontrunner to win the Rookie of the Year award and is undoubtedly becoming the future of the modern NBA big man along with Victory Wembanyama.
For Timme, perhaps he can take some inspiration from his former college teammate as he prepares for the road to recovery over the coming weeks.
