What Role Will Drew Timme Play With the Brooklyn Nets this Season?

Drew Timme has had quite the journey to end up on the Brooklyn Nets roster.

Timme was a star at Gonzaga, playing in 134 career games and averaging 17.2 points, 6.7 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game while shooting 61.8% from the field. He won the Karl Malone Award in 2021, given to the best collegiate power forward in the country. And he was a consensus first-team All-American in 2023.

Despite all that college production, Timme went undrafted in 2023. He signed with the Wisconsin Herd, the Milwaukee Bucks G-League team, for the 2023-24 season and then played with the Stockton Kings, the Sacramento Kings G-League team, for two months in 2024. Everything changed on December 30, 2024, when Timme was traded and joined the Long Island Nets.

With Long Island, Timme was excellent, averaging 23.9 points, 10.3 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game en route to being named to the All-NBA G-League second team. He made his debut with Brooklyn on March 28 and appeared in nine games with the Nets. He averaged 12.1 points and 7.2 rebounds per game while playing over 28 minutes a night.

And now Timme is back for the 2025-26 season, but he's without a clear role on the team. The Nets front court is a bit of a logjam at the moment. Michael Porter Jr. and Nic Claxton will start, but the depth behind them is murky. Day'Ron Sharpe and Danny Wolf will probably get the first chance for backup center minutes, leaving Timme to fight for backup power forward time.

He'll be competing with the likes of Ziaire Williams, Noah Clowney, and even Jalen Wilson for some of those minutes when Porter Jr. goes to the bench. Just like Timme, Williams, and Clowney impressed last year and already have a leg up in the competition based on how much they played last year and the familiarity with head coach Jordi Fernandez. And Wilson has the highest ceiling of the entire group.

If he wants to win that backup power forward role, Timme will have to improve his efficiency. He shot just 44.1% from the field in those 12 NBA games, way down from his high efficiency at Gonzaga. If that can be improved, his rebounding and playmaking ability make him a strong candidate to get some bench minutes for Brooklyn this season.

It's good to have so much depth to choose from if you're Fernandez, and Timme will need to impress in preseason play to earn those minutes. The 6-foot-10 forward has had anything but a linear journey to end up in Brooklyn, but if his experience says anything, it's that Timme will give it everything he's got to carve out a role on this roster. He's got the pedigree and the talent. Now it's up to him to put it all together to help the Nets achieve their goals in 2025-26.