LAS VEGAS \u2013 Welcome to Drew Timme\u2019s third year at NBA Summer League, featuring viral poster dunks, between-the-legs passes and public endorsements from the league\u2019s most recognizable figures.<\/p>\n
Oh, and \u2018MVP\u2019 chants near the end of a 30-point effort at the Thomas & Mack Center, where Timme was the best player on the floor but couldn\u2019t will the Brooklyn Nets to the finish line in a 102-96 loss to the Washington Wizards.<\/p>\n
Timme\u2019s play during a nationally televised game earned the former Gonzaga standout a midgame ESPN interview and social media recognition from one of the network\u2019s most popular analysts, former NBA center Kendrick Perkins.<\/p>\n
\u201cDrew Timme should be on some body roster getting quality minutes!!!!\u201d Perkins tweeted in the second half. \u201cAnd I mean in the rotation heavy.\u201d<\/p>\n
It signifies a major shift in the national conversation around Timme, who didn\u2019t hear his name called in the 2023 draft and wasn\u2019t widely considered an NBA-caliber player by analysts who cover the sport.<\/p>\n
The social media-averse Timme was notified of Perkins\u2019 tweet in postgame interviews on Sunday.<\/p>\n
\u201cMan, that\u2019s super cool, especially from a guy that\u2019s played that long and been around the block,\u201d Timme said. \u201cThat\u2019s super cool and that\u2019s what I\u2019m trying to get to. That\u2019s the dream and that\u2019s the goal. That hasn\u2019t quite been the narrative I\u2019d say since I left college, that I can play in the league and deserve a spot or whatever.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo kind of see that narrative change, it\u2019s good because you\u2019ve seen what people say about you earlier.\u201d<\/p>\n
There weren\u2019t many doubting Timme\u2019s abilities by the end of the 2024-25 NBA season, when he made nine appearances for Brooklyn, averaging 13.0 points and 6.3 rebounds while posting three double-doubles.<\/p>\n
Anyone still not convinced may have changed their mind after watching Timme\u2019s first two games this week in Vegas. The third-year pro scored 22 points and grabbed nine rebounds in Brooklyn\u2019s opener, making 10 of 13 shots from the field.<\/p>\n
He stuffed three or four highlight plays into the second game, including a second-quarter dunk that began with a nifty between-the-legs pass from Timme to Tyson Etienne, who skipped the ball right back to the forward.<\/p>\n
Timme drove into the lane before splicing through the Wizards\u2019 Tre Johnson III and Alex Sarr, rising for a two-handed dunk over the 7-foot Sarr before falling to the ground. Washington\u2019s former No. 2 overall pick was whistled for the foul and Timme completed a three-point play from the free -throw line.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not going to lie, I did not know if I made it,\u201d Timme said. \u201cIt\u2019s not really what I\u2019m known for, but I get up every now and then. I was looking around like \u2018did I make that?\u2019 \u2013 it was a fun surprise I guess.\u201d<\/p>\n
Timme, who signed a multiyear contract with Brooklyn in March, finished 13 of 24 from the field and 2 of 7 from the 3-point line.<\/p>\n
He had a steal-and-slam sequence near the end of the third quarter and began receiving \u2018MVP\u2019 chants while on the verge of a 30-point game late in the final frame.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was fun, definitely reminded me of college I guess,\u201d Timme said. \u201cIt\u2019s always fun when the fans are into it and it\u2019s a close game. There\u2019s nothing better than that. So it was fun, hopefully next time we get the win though. But it was great.\u201d<\/p>\n
Timme\u2019s now up to 52 total points and averaging 26 per game through Brooklyn\u2019s first two contests in Las Vegas. That ranks second at Summer League and first among players who\u2019ve been through multiple games.<\/p>\n
The former Zag said college coach Mark Few, who attended multiple Summer League games on Sunday, encouraged him to stay solid on the defensive end in a pregame text message.<\/p>\n
Timme and ex-Gonzaga teammate Corey Kispert embraced and briefly caught up before Sunday\u2019s game. Kispert was among the Washington players who acquired courtside seats to support the Wizards\u2019 Summer League squad.<\/p>\n
Other locals<\/p>\n
\u2022 Former Gonzaga guard Khalif Battle made his first start at Summer League and scored seven points for the Phoenix Suns during a 98-80 loss to the Atlanta Hawks. Battle made 1 of 3 shots from the field, went 5 of 6 from the free throw line and had two rebounds.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Anton Watson and Ben Gregg, college teammates at GU for three seasons, went head-to-head in the Boston Celtics\u2019 94-81 win over the New York Knicks. Watson scored three points, making a 3-pointer in the third quarter, and had three rebounds for New York while Gregg recorded one offensive rebound in two minutes off the bench.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Former Mt. Spokane High standout Tyson Degenhart didn\u2019t play in his second straight game for the Toronto Raptors.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LAS VEGAS \u2013 Welcome to Drew Timme\u2019s third year at NBA Summer League, featuring viral poster dunks, between-the-legs…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9677,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[355,99],"class_list":["post-9676","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-nba","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9676","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9676"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9676\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9677"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9676"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9676"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9676"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}