Drew Timme is a legitimate NBA player.
Yes, it’s March hoops. And yes, it’s only been three games of the Timme experience. But, it’s already safe to say this guy can fit right in on a court with the best players in the world. Why? He checks a lot of boxes as a backup center. He’s the type of big who can at the very least eat up minutes and be productive when a rotation mainstay is injured. Timme is active on the offensive glass and can catch and finish or score off post-ups. He also has a clear feel for the game offensively and makes smart, unselfish decisions out of the short roll, a skill becoming more and more valued by NBA teams. The big fella has even started putting in extra work on his three-ball since college.
Timme has his flaws. He’s grounded, he’s not awesome on defense, and so on. Yet, he stepped onto an NBA court for the first time and immediately made an impact by grabbing a double-double. In his second game, he scored 19 points! Every dog has its day, sure. There’s no guarantee that Timme will be a good NBA player. But he belongs.
Despite an illustrious college career in which Timme was a consensus All-American three times, among many other awards, he went undrafted in 2023 and didn’t make it to the NBA until this March. It took maybe the best center in college basketball almost two whole years to finally get his chance in the big league. Now that he’s here, he’s making it look like he should have gotten here a lot sooner. So, what’s the lesson?
Don’t count out good basketball players.
In 2021-22, Collin Gillespie capped off an excellent college career with an All-American campaign. He was an elite college point guard who directed successful Villanova offenses at a high level and shot the leather off the ball. He, like Timme, went undrafted. Now, though, he’s the starting point guard for the Phoenix Suns, a role he flat-out earned by outplaying Tyus Jones.
In 2020-21, Herb Jones was not only an All-American but also the SEC Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year. He slipped to the second round of the 2021 NBA draft, but went on to become a full-time starter from day one and, eventually, one of the best defenders in the sport.
Jared Butler was the Most Outstanding Player for a championship Baylor team, went late in the second round, and is now one of most undervalued backup guards in the league. Tre Jones was an All-American and the POY and DPOY of his conference as a sophomore, fell to the second round, and went on to become an incredibly steady backup point guard. People doubted all-time NCAA great Luka Garza’s ability to translate to the NBA, but he’s kept a job for four seasons and will likely continue to stick around. The bottom line here is that prospects who prove to be phenomenal and polished basketball players at lower levels usually have a good chance at being contributors in the NBA, but are generally undervalued on draft night.
Of course, for all the success stories just listed, there are also Cassius Winstons, Kofi Cockburns, and Cameron Krutwigs. Great, great college players who didn’t work out at all in the NBA or just didn’t even make it there. No drafting philosophy has a 100% hit rate though. Overall, the more we see elite college players who were counted out in draft conversations end up being something in the NBA, the more mind-boggling it is that they continue to be passed on. The dismissal of players like Drew Timme needs to stop going forward, especially from teams with late first round or mid second round picks.
The Bench Mob Blog 