The Los Angeles Lakers have announced the signing of forward Drew Timme to a two-way contract. In order to open up that spot, the team waived center Christian Koloko.
Timme has been a star for the South Bay Lakers early on in this season. In six contests during the G League Tip-Off Tournament, Timme has averaged 25.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 1.2 steals. His play earned him NBA G League Player of the Week for games played from Nov. 7-16, as he lead South Bay to a 3-0 start to the season while averaging 30.0 points, 7.0 rebounds and 4.7 assists.
Last year, Timme was an All-NBA G League second team selection after averaging 23.9 points, 10.3 rebounds and 4.2 assists for the Long Island Nets. He also got the opportunity to suit up for the Brooklyn Nets and held his own, averaging 12.1 points and 7.2 rebounds in nine contests.
Before he got to the league, Timme was one of the best players in all of college basketball while starring at Gonzaga University. He was a three-time All-American including a unanimous first team selection as a senior when he averaged 21.2 points, 7.5 rebounds and 3.2 assists. He was also a two-time WCC Player of the Year and was the recipient of the Karl Malone Award for the Nation’s best power forward in 2021.
The Lakers chose to waive Koloko in order to make room for Timme and the big man did have some solid moments while with the team. He appeared in 37 games for the Lakers last season and showed flashes as a rim-runner and weakside shot blocker. But he simply didn’t show enough consistently to keep him around and Timme has been far too outstanding to ignore and has earned this chance.
Of course, even getting back to this point was an accomplishment for Koloko as he was forced to miss more than a year due to blood clot issues and worked extremely hard to return to the court. He had appeared in only two games with the Lakers this season, but did also appear in two games with the South Bay Lakers where he averaged 8.5 points, 8.5 rebounds and 1.5 blocks.
LeBron James not concerned with Lakers’ shooting problems
One area the Lakers could certainly use some improvement in is their 3-point shooting as they are currently one of the worst teams in the NBA in that department. But LeBron James isn’t concerned with these issues and believes the numbers will eventually even out.
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