After surprisingly being left off the Brooklyn Nets’ final 2025-26 roster, former Gonzaga standout Drew Timme landed with the South Bay Lakers, the G League affiliate of the Los Angeles Lakers. It was here that Timme first called LeBron James a teammate, as the latter was rehabbing from sciatica and thus, practicing with the G Leaguers.

Perhaps James put in a good word with the Los Angeles front office, as Timme was handed a shiny new two-way contract just 12 days after the NBA’s all-time leading scorer was assigned to South Bay. While that’s a purely speculative comment, Timme’s recent comments certainly could’ve served as motivation for James to do so.

“It was pretty crazy, man. Like, I mean, that’s the GOAT. To be able to share the court with him was special, especially being a G League team. That’s so outside the normal of everything,” Timme told  ESPN’s Dave McMenamin. “I think it just shows how connected the two programs are, and it’s super cool. He came down, and it was our job to help him get back to game speed, so we were just glad to help.”

Timme’s eventual debut as a Laker will mark his first appearance in a regular season game since April 13, where he contributed 11 points and snagged eight rebounds for Brooklyn in a 113-105 loss to the New York Knicks. He’d posted back-to-back double-doubles prior to what was the Nets’ season finale, and Timme’s future in the league looked quite bright.

His dominance in Las Vegas during summer league only further confirmed the potential he possesses, yet none of these factors were enough for Brooklyn to extend the relationship. Now, he’ll rock the purple and gold alongside two of the greatest pick-and-roll partners a big could ask for.

For context, look at how DeAndre Ayton has flourished as a Laker thus far. He’s averaging a career-high 69.6% from the field, six whole percentage points more than his previous personal best.

It seems quite likely Timme recaptures his consistency from the Brooklyn days, assuming he’s given a proper chance. If he does, and the product looks anything like it did when he was flashing at the Barclays Center, the Nets may grow to regret their choice on the 25-year-old.

It may not occur until months after the initial decision was made, but there’s still plenty of reason to be excited about Timme’s future in the NBA, and it would’ve been great had Brooklyn admitted that fact itself.