The Los Angeles Lakers watched a familiar face land elsewhere on Monday when the Phoenix Suns claimed Drew Timme off waivers and immediately converted his Exhibit 10 deal into a two-way contract.
For a franchise that spent much of the previous season developing the former Gonzaga star in the G League and occasionally calling him up for limited NBA minutes, the move closes one chapter while opening questions about how the Lakers evaluate frontcourt depth on the margins of the roster.
Timme arrived in the Lakers organization after a brief stint with the Brooklyn Nets, where he made his NBA debut late in the 2024-25 season.
Los Angeles signed him to a two-way contract in late November 2025, primarily to bolster the South Bay Lakers.
There, the 6-foot-9 power forward thrived as a polished interior scorer, averaging 23.9 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 4.8 assists across 21 G League appearances while shooting efficiently around the rim.
Those numbers echoed the skill set that made him a college standout, and they occasionally translated upward: in 27 regular-season games with the Lakers, he averaged 3.4 points in under nine minutes per night, showing flashes as a complementary big who could space the floor and finish inside.
Yet the Lakers ultimately let his two-way expire without converting him or extending a qualifying offer.
Training camp with the Minnesota Timberwolves followed this fall, only for Timme to be cut as Minnesota finalized its roster. That timing proved fortuitous for Phoenix, which acted on the final day teams can convert an Exhibit 10 into a two-way slot.
The Suns, already short-handed with starting center Mark Williams recovering from shoulder surgery that is expected to sideline him for months, added Timme alongside Duop Reath and Pat Spencer.
He can appear in up to 50 NBA games and provides another body capable of scoring near the basket while the team navigates its frontcourt rotation.
From a Lakers standpoint, the departure underscores the narrow path for two-way bigs in a league that prizes size, athleticism, and defensive versatility.
Timme’s G League production was hard to ignore, and his brief NBA samples suggested he could contribute in specific lineups, yet he never carved out consistent rotation minutes amid Los Angeles’ established frontcourt options.
His move to Phoenix offers a fresh opportunity in a situation with clearer short-term need, while the Lakers continue refining their own roster edges without the former South Bay standout.
In the end, both sides simply reached the natural conclusion of a developmental year that produced solid results without a permanent NBA foothold.
