Jānis Timma


Jānis Timma is a Latvian professional basketball player for BC Khimki of the VTB League and the EuroLeague. He also represents the senior Latvian national team. At a height of 2.03 m tall, and a weight of 103 kg, he plays mainly at the small forward position.

Professional career

Timma grew up playing basketball in his hometown of Krāslava, but he later moved to Rīga, at age 15. At first he joined ASK Rīga's youth system, and made a few appearances for its senior team, during the end of the 2008–09 season. The following year, ASK Riga was dissolved and he played with DSN Rīga, a team that consisted of young Latvian talents. Timma helped DSN Rīga to win the Latvian 2nd division in the 2009–10 season. He also spent the majority of the next season playing with DSN Rīga.
Timma joined Liepājas Lauvas for the 2011–12 season. That can be considered his first real season at the pro level. After a decent season in Liepāja, Timma made the next step in his career. On 1 August 2012, he signed a multi-year contract with Ventspils.
In April 2013, he led Ventspils to the Baltic Basketball League championship, and he won the Finals MVP award.
In his second season with Ventspils, Timma won his first Latvian League championship, and he was named the MVP of the playoffs.
On July 28, 2014, he signed with the Latvian club VEF Rīga, where he played for the first time in such quality competition as the European-wide secondary league, the EuroCup, and the VTB United League.
Timma was named the MVP of the 2015 Latvian Basketball League All-Star Game, after he scored 41 points, and set a new scoring record. On May 5, 2015, he was named the VTB United League Young Player of the Year. He finished the season with VEF Rīga, by winning the Latvian League championship. In total, he played in 58 games with VEF Riga, averaging 12.6 points per game, in all the competitions that his team participated in.
On June 30, 2015, he signed a two-year contract with the Russian team Zenit St. Petersburg.
On June 8, 2017, Timma signed a three-year deal with the Spanish club Baskonia.
On July 18, 2018, Timma parted ways with Baskonia and signed a two-year deal with the Greek club Olympiacos of the EuroLeague.
His stint in Greece proved unsuccessful and he was loaned to fellow EuroLeague club Khimki for the back-end of the 2018–19 season. During the summer of 2019, Timma signed on to continue playing for the Russian team.

NBA draft rights

In 2013, Timma declared for the 2013 NBA draft. He was selected with the last pick by the Memphis Grizzlies.
On 24 June 2015 the Memphis Grizzlies traded Timma's draft rights to the Orlando Magic in exchange for Luke Ridnour.

National team career

With Latvia's junior national team, Timma won a bronze medal at the 2010 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship. In 2013, he made his first appearance with the senior Latvian national team. With Latvia's senior team, he has played at the 2015 EuroBasket, the 2016 Belgrade FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament, and the 2017 EuroBasket.

Career statistics

EuroLeague