Former Lakers two-way forward Drew Timme has agreed to a deal with the Minnesota Timberwolves and will compete for a roster spot in training camp, according to HoopsHype’s Michael Scotto.
The move gives the 6-foot-10 Gonzaga product another chance to stick in the NBA after Los Angeles declined to keep him this summer. Timme went undrafted in 2023 and has spent most of his professional career bouncing between G League affiliates and short NBA stints.
For Minnesota, the signing is a low-risk camp addition. For the Lakers, it arrives as training camp nears and the team’s depth behind new starting center Walker Kessler remains thin.
Timme became a free agent after last season and saw the Lakers renounce his free-agent exception rights in July. That decision ended his latest stay with the organization after he spent 2025-26 on a two-way contract.
He was productive when he returned to the G League. In 13 regular-season games with South Bay, Timme averaged 23.7 points, 8.5 rebounds and 5.0 assists while shooting 56.3% from the field.
Those numbers followed an earlier stretch in the Tip-Off Tournament, when he averaged 25.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and 4.0 assists in six starts and was named G League Player of the Week.
At the NBA level, his role was more limited. Timme appeared in 27 games for the Lakers last season, averaging 3.4 points, 1.2 rebounds and 0.9 assists in 8.7 minutes. He made one start.
His career NBA line over two seasons with Brooklyn and Los Angeles is 5.6 points and 2.7 rebounds in 36 games. With the Nets in 2024-25, he averaged 12.1 points and 7.2 rebounds in nine appearances.
Los Angeles rebuilt its frontcourt this summer around Kessler, acquiring the 7-foot-2 center from Utah in a sign-and-trade. The Lakers sent unprotected first-round picks in 2031 and 2033, plus first-round swaps in 2028 and 2030. Kessler signed a four-year, $130 million contract.
Coach JJ Redick has called Kessler a fit next to Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves, pointing to rim protection and rebounding as areas the Lakers needed to strengthen. Kessler has averaged 2.4 blocks over four NBA seasons and has made 68.1% of his career field-goal attempts.
The supporting bigs behind him are veterans, not developmental centers. The Lakers signed Kevon Looney and Sandro Mamukelashvili, both listed at 6-foot-9. Deandre Ayton was traded to Washington, and Jaxson Hayes left in free agency.
Los Angeles also has no traditional center among its two-way players. The three two-way spots belong to guard Chris Mañon, listed at 6-foot-4, and forwards Arthur Kaluma and AK Okereke, both 6-foot-7.
That construction leaves little emergency size if Kessler misses time. Timme was never a rim protector, but he offered rebounding, passing and low-post scoring, and he already knew Redick’s system after a full season in the organization.
Timme’s path has been unconventional since he left Gonzaga as the program’s all-time leading scorer. He spent time with Wisconsin, Stockton and Long Island in the G League before brief NBA looks with Brooklyn and Los Angeles. Across 76 G League regular-season and Tip-Off games entering last season’s later stretch, he averaged 16.8 points, 7.8 rebounds and 3.0 assists.
Minnesota already has an established interior rotation led by Rudy Gobert. Timme is expected to fight for a camp or two-way opportunity rather than an immediate rotation role. The Timberwolves have used similar deals in recent years to keep extra frontcourt bodies available through the G League.
Lakers training camp is approaching with Kessler as the clear starter and Looney and Mamukelashvili as the primary backups. Losing Timme does not change the top of the depth chart, but it does remove a familiar 6-foot-10 option who produced at a high level in South Bay and filled in during injury stretches last season.
Whether that G League production turns into a lasting NBA job is now Minnesota’s question. For Los Angeles, the roster math is simpler: the starting center is in place, the veterans behind him are signed, and the two-way list does not include a traditional big man.
